THE  DEMOCRACY 
OF  THE  TREES 

EDWARD  ANDREWS 


RAW  OF  RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT 


_____      I  \ .  w .   A  . 

JC  423    .A52  1917 
Andrews 

Democracy  of  the  trees 


The  Democracy 
of  the  Trees 

Studies  in  Service 


BOSTON :  THE  GORHAM  PRESS 

TORONTO!  THE  COPP  CLARK  CO.,  LIMITED 


Copyright,  191 7,  by  Edward  Andrews 


All  Rights  Reserved 


Made  in  the  United  States  of  America 


The  Gorham  Press,  Boston,  U.  S.  A. 


TO  MY  DEAR  WIFE 
JESSIE  B. 
I  DEDICATE  THIS  BOOK 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

The  Historical  Basis  of  the  Parable   .    .  n 

I.  Service:  The  Purpose  of  All  Existence   .  13 

II.  The  Question  of  Fitness   30 

III.  The  Appeals  of  Democracy   50 

IV.  The  Refusals  of  Service   65 

V.  The  Dangers  of  Democracy     ....  82 

VI.  The  Responsibility  of  Democracy  .    .    .  103 


JOTHAM'S  PARABLE 


"The  trees  went  forth  on  a  time  to  anoint  a  king 
over  them;  and  they  said  unto  the  olive  tree,  Reign 
thou  over  us.  But  the  olive  tree  said  unto  them, 
Should  I  leave  my  fatness,  wherewith  by  me  they 
honour  God  and  man,  and  go  to  be  promoted  over 
the  trees?  And  the  trees  said  to  the  fig  tree,  Come 
thou,  and  reign  over  us.  But  the  fig  tree  said  unto 
them,  Should  I  forsake  my  sweetness,  and  my  good 
fruit,  and  go  to  be  promoted  over  the  trees? 
Then  said  the  trees  unto  the  vine,  Come  thou,  and 
reign  over  us.  And  the  vine  said  unto  them, 
Should  I  leave  my  wine,  which  cheereth  God  and 
man,  and  go  to  be  promoted  over  the  trees?  Then 
said  all  the  trees  unto  the  bramble,  Come  thou  and 
reign  over  us.  And  the  bramble  said  unto  the 
trees,  If  in  truth  ye  anoint  me  king  over  you,  then 
come  and  put  your  trust  in  my  shadow;  and  if  not, 
let  fire  come  out  of  the  bramble  and  devour  the 
cedars  of  Lebanon/' — (Judges  9:  8-15.) 


THE  HISTORICAL  BASIS  OF  THE 
PARABLE 


"Revolutions,"  said  the  late  Goldwin  Smith, 
"are  always  harmful."  He  cited  many  instances  of 
grievous  effects  of  these  tragic  events.  It  would 
appear  the  revolution  with  which  our  parable  is 
connected  was  no  exception  to  this  idea.  In  this 
parable  Jotham  charges  the  men  of  Shechem  and 
Israel  with  ingratitude,  injustice,  foolishness  and 
ignorance,  and  predicts  their  own  ruin  as  the  result. 
Shechem  was  at  the  head  of  a  confederacy  of  cities 
which  was  well  controlled  as  long  as  Gideon  lived. 
It  seems  that  Ophrah  was  at  the  head  of  another 
confederacy.  There  was  some  antagonism  between 
the  two;  just  enough  to  make  possible  and  easy  the 
rise  of  an  unscrupulous  adventurer  like  Abimelech. 
He  was  the  son  of  Gideon  by  a  concubine  who  lived 
in  Shechem.  He  presented  his  cause  to  the  men  of 
Shechem  to  whom  he  was  related  in  this  manner. 
He  asserted  that  Gideon's  sons  in  Ophrah,  of 
whom  altogether  there  were  three-score  and  ten, 
were  assuming  the  rule  over  Israel.  It  were  bet- 
ter, he  said,  that  one  man  rule  over  you  than  that 
three-score  and  ten  should  rule.  It  was  a  foolish 
suggestion,  yet  working  on  the  prejudices  and  an- 
tagonisms of  the  men  of  Shechem,  it  was  successful. 
Part  of  Abimelech's  crafty  design  was  to  gain  con- 


9 


10 


The  Historical  Basis  of  the  Parable 


trol  of  the  wealth  stored  up  in  the  sanctuary  of 
Baal,  for  the  people  were  half  Canaanite.  They 
voted  for  his  use  seventy  pieces  of  silver  with  which 
he  hired  "vain  and  light  persons"  who  fell  in  quickly 
with  this  wicked  adventurer's  designs.  With  these 
he  invaded  his  father's  house  at  Ophrah,  took  hold 
of  his  brethren,  and  dragged  them  forth  to  a  place  of 
execution.  Of  this  number  only  one  was  left, 
Jotham,  the  youngest  son  of  Gideon,  who  contrived 
his  escape  by  hiding  himself.  Then  the  men  of 
Shechem  gathered  themselves  together  and  made 
Abimelech  king.  It  was  this  wholesale  murder  of 
his  brethren  that  called  forth  the  protest  of  Jotham. 
He  stood  in  the  top  of  Mount  Gerizim,  lifted  up  his 
voice  and  cried,  and  said  unto  them,  Hearken  unto 
me,  ye  men  of  Shechem,"  the  words  of  this  parable 
of  the  trees.  As  he  predicted  they  had  not  only 
done  wickedly  but  foolishly.  The  revolution  ef- 
fected by  Abimelech  and  the  men  of  Shechem 
wrought  their  own  ruin.  Conspiracy  against  him 
followed,  and  soon  the  house  of  Shechem  were 
burned  by  the  fire  that  came  out  of  their  new  and 
wanton  king,  and  he  in  turn  was  slain  in  battle. 
"Thus  says  the  scripture,  God  rendered  the  wicked- 
ness of  Abimelech,  which  he  did  unto  his  father  in 
slaying  his  seventy  brethren;  and  all  the  evil  of  the 
men  of  Shechem  did  God  render  upon  their  heads; 
and  upon  them  came  the  curse  of  Jotham  the  son 
of  Jerubbaal.  Judges  10:  56.  Our  parable  read- 
ily resolves  itself  into  a  series  of  studies  in  service. 
It  is  in  this  light  the  following  pages  are  written. 


THE  DEMOCRACY 
OF  THE  TREES 


CHAPTER  I 


Service:   The  Purpose  of  all  Existence 

"The  trees  went  forth  on  a  time  to  anoint  a  king 
over  them!3  Judges. 


HIS  in  parabolic  language  meant  a  call  to  ser- 


vice. A  king  was  wanted,  for  there  was  a 
throne  to  fill  and  no  one  adequate  to  the  purpose. 
Society  took  matters  into  its  own  hands  that  it 
might  fulfil  its  own  tendencies  and  necessities. 
There  was  a  service  to  be  rendered;  it  was  the  ser- 
vice of  kingship.  A  great  one  was  needed  to  assist 
in  the  government  of  society.  He  was  to  become 
ruler  by  popular  choice,  which  in  itself  was  an  ex- 
pression of  democratic  principle. 

The  tendency  of  life  and  society  is  here  well  ex- 
pressed. The  trees  wanted  one  to  be  king  over 
them,  for  they  were  not  satisfied  with  anarchical 
conditions.  The  tendency  of  society  is  toward  or- 
ganization. The  State  is  the  organic  expression  of 
that  tendency.  Society  tends  to  thus  express  itself 
because  men  are  conscious  of  their  personal  and  so- 


14  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


cial  relationship  and  this  consciousness  becomes  most 
active  and  most  capable  in  organic  form.  The  ideal 
of  our  social  constitution  is  not  anarchy.  This  is 
but  a  negation  of  our  self-conscious  social  nature. 
It  is  an  obstacle  to  progress,  for  it  provides  no  op- 
portunities for  the  development  of  our  capacities  for 
service.  The  more  organized  our  collective  hu- 
manity becomes,  the  louder  is  the  call  for  service 
to  the  individual.  This  is  the  meaning  of  the  call 
here.  The  trees  in  their  collective  capacity  would 
organize  themselves  under  a  king  and  altogether 
a  better  State  could  be  formed  and  a  better  service 
rendered.  Society  at  that  time  demanded  that 
much. 

What  have  we  here  but  a  demand  of  the  State 
for  the  service  of  its  citizens?  It  recognizes  and 
claims  a  right  to  that  service.  There  is,  however, 
no  thought  here  of  the  State  absolutely  absorbing 
the  individual  in  its  service.  As  long  as  men  are 
personal  units  the  sacrifice  of  the  individual,  uni- 
versally and  absolutely  to  the  interests  of  the 
State  will  neither  be  right  nor  expedient.  Without 
the  recognition  of  this  basis  of  individuality  the 
State  cannot  exist  and  progress.  Free  citizens  must 
be  allowed  freedom  for  personal  progress;  other- 
wise, the  State  will  undermine  its  own  foundation. 
This  is  an  experiment  which  has  frequently  been 
tried  on  the  stage  of  history.  "The  Greek  repub- 
lic," says  Washington  Gladden,  "sacrificed  the  indi- 
vidual to  the  State,  and  perished  for  that  fault." 
1  The  State  must  recognize  the  value  and  integrity 

1  "Tools  and  the  Man,"  p.  4. 


Service:  the  Purpose  of  all  Existence  15 


and  freedom  of  the  individual,  and  the  individual 
must  recognize  the  service  he  owes  to  the  State. 
The  State  must  not  ruthlessly  sacrifice  the  indi- 
vidual nor  must  the  individual  withhold  from  the 
State  the  service  he  can  justly  render.  The  equilib- 
rium between  the  two  will  be  thus  properly  sus- 
tained. 

There  are  periods,  nevertheless,  when  private 
advantage  must  be  merged  in  the  public  good. 
This  was  the  argument  of  Themistocles  when  war 
broke  out  between  Athens  and  /Egina.  A  large 
amount  of  surplus  had  accumulated  in  the  Athenian 
treasury.  It  was  proposed  to  distribute  this 
among  the  citizens  of  Athens.  Themistocles  had  a 
better  proposition.  "Build  a  navy,"  he  said,  "and 
sacrifice  your  private  advantage  to  the  public  good." 
The  navy  was  built  and  became  the  means  of  sav- 
ing the  Athenian  State.  The  State  requires  and 
deserves  the  best  service  of  its  citizens.  "The  trees 
went  forth  to  anoint  a  king  over  them." 

What  is  true  of  the  State  is  equally  true  of  all 
organized  life.  It  creates  and  demands  service,  so 
that  the  law  of  service  is  exceedingly  universal. 
It  is  the  purpose  for  which  all  things  have  come 
into  existence.  They  are  made  to  serve.  As  Dr. 
Downes  cays,  "Service  is  the  universal  law  through 
which  all  things  climb  to  blessedness  and  fulfil  the 
purpose  of  their  being."  2  The  basis  of  this  is  found 
in  the  constitution  of  the  world. 

There  is  a  very  poetical  significance  in  the  trees 
demanding  service  of  another  when  we  consider 

2  "Great  Thoughts." 


1 6  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


how  freely  they  give  themselves  to  the  service  of 
the  world.  They  breathe  the  same  air  as  man 
breathes,  draw  their  vital  juices  from  the  earth,  as- 
similate for  their  own  coloring  the  elements  of  the 
sunbeam  that  they  may  be  of  service  to  the  whole 
world.  "What  a  thought  that  was,"  exclaimed  a 
philosopher,  "when  God  thought  of  a  tree!"  Childe 
Harold,  we  are  told,  became  a  mere  thing  in  man's 
dwellings,  but  over  the  mountains  and  among  the 
trees  he  realised  his  better  nature.  The  trees  hap- 
pily deprive  us  of  a  loneliness  we  might  otherwise 
feel  in  roaming  o'er  the  surface  of  nature.  They 
minister  to  our  aesthetic  comfort.  They  take  the 
fierce  current  out  of  the  electric  storm  and  place  it 
in  the  earth  where  it  cannot  harm  us.  They  change 
the  discordant  wind-sounds  into  tremulous  har- 
monies and  serve  us  with  music  freely.  They  sup- 
ply the  world's  markets  with  materials  for  food, 
clothing,  building  and  many  other  things.  Their 
service  is  almost  limitless;  so  there  is  a  poetic  sig- 
nificance in  the  trees  going  forth  and  demanding  ser- 
vice among  their  own  kin.  That  is  their  natural 
tendency.  It  is  but  a  broader  hint  of  the  universal 
demand  for  service  by  all  life  and  existence  and  also 
of  the  purpose  of  all  existence.  As  Spinoza  said: 
"All  things  serve."  This  thought  is  amplified  by 
Dr.  Downes  thus,  "It  is  the  law  of  the  universe  that 
things  reach  perfection  and  meaning  through  min- 
istry. In  the  world  of  Nature  the  rocks  are  fret- 
ted into  generous  decay  that  soil  may  be  provided 
for  meadows  to  smile  at  their  feet.  The  vegetable 
world  dies  in  ministry  to  the  animal  world,  and  the 


Service:  the  Purpose  of  all  Existence  17 


animal  world  in  turn  ministers  to  the  higher  life  of 
man."3 

It  was  once  thought  by  some  scientists  that  many 
things  exist  in  nature  for  which  there  can  be  no 
purpose,  or  in  other  words  they  have  no  service  to 
render.  The  question  concerning  purposeless  exist- 
ences did  not  pertain  so  much  to  different  organisms 
as  to  varied  characters  belonging  to  those  organisms 
and  their  utility  to  their  own  species.  Darwin  at- 
tributed the  idea  of  purposeless  existences  ultimately 
not  to  design  in  nature  or  carelessness  in  selection  and 
development,  but  to  man's  ignorance  of  their  pur- 
pose. These  are  his  words:  "I  am  convinced  from 
the  light  gained  during  even  the  last  few  years,  that 
very  many  structures  which  now  appear  to  us  use- 
less, will  hereafter  be  proved  to  be  useful,  and  will 
therefore  come  within  the  range  of  natural  selec- 
tion."4 One  of  the  most  necessary  qualities  for  the 
study  of  teleological  principles  in  nature  is  patience. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  how  organic  existences, 
and  characteristics  of  organisms  in  nature  have  been 
brought  over  by  scientists  in  recent  years  from  the 
category  of  the  useless  to  that  of  the  useful.  The 
law  of  cross-fertilization  has  shown  how  the  very 
shapes,  colors,  varied  sizes,  streaks  and  spots  found 
on  some  plants  are  necessary  to  the  virility  of  the 
whole  structure.  These  peculiar  differences  for 
which  at  one  time  no  purpose  could  be  seen  are  now 
found  to  be  useful.  The  large  display  of  color 
throughout  nature  was  thought  to  have  but  one 

8  "Great  Thoughts." 

*  "Wallace's  Darwinism,"  p.  132. 


i8 


The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


purpose;  the  satisfaction  of  man's  aesthetic  sense. 
Now  it  is  understood  that  the  varied  colors  on  ani- 
mal, bird  and  insect,  are  of  utility  to  the  creatures 
possessing  them.  The  spines,  hair,  sticky  glands 
on  the  stem  or  stalk  of  the  plant,  and  the  wonderful 
process  some  flowers  possess  of  enclosing  their  own 
systems,  which  once  seemed  to  have  no  purpose  are 
now  seen  to  possess  a  power  of  protection,  attraction 
and  development  for  the  structure  of  the  organism 
itself.  Any  reliable  modern  work  of  science  will 
show  that  things  once  thought  to  be  of  no  purpose 
in  the  economy  of  nature,  now  thrill  the  student 
with  a  sense  of  its  valuable  service.  So  that  the 
expression  attributed  to  Spinoza  heretofore  is  not  a 
sweeping  statement  without  foundation.  All  things 
which  God  has  made  enthuse  us  with  their  lessons 
of  service.  It  matters  not  whether  the  Supreme 
Worker  is  making  a  world  or  an  insect,  it  throbs 
with  intelligent  purpose.  It  is  our  joy  to  unravel 
that  purpose. 

For  general  interest  we  may  divide  the  principles 
of  universal  service  into  four  parts.  ( I )  There  is 
the  service  of  self.  (2)  The  service  of  other  self. 
(3)  The  service  of  the  whole  species.  (4)  The 
service  of  all  life.  The  service  of  self  is  one  of  the 
primary  principles  of  being.  It  is  fundamental  to 
all  organized  existences.  Without  it,  individuality 
could  not  be  sustained.  This  is  where  most  service 
begins.  Everything  has  a  service  or  duty  to  perform 
to  its  own  existence.  It  is  a  primary  though  not  an 
ultimate  law  of  existence.  Service  begins  toward 
the  individual  self  though  it  does  not  stay  or  end 


Service:  the  Purpose  of  all  Existence  19 


there. 

There  are  many  illustrations  of  this  principle 
found  in  nature.  We  have  already  observed  the 
protective  factor  existing  in  the  color  of  animals, 
birds  and  insects.  The  study  of  color  on  these  in 
their  native  state  reveals  very  utilitarian  character- 
istics. As  for  instance  the  white  on  Arctic  animals 
which  enables  them  to  merge  themselves  in  the 
color  of  their  frozen  environment  and  so  protect 
themselves  from  the  sight  of  the  enemy,  or  makes  it 
easy  for  them  to  prepare  unnoticed  for  an  onslaught 
on  their  prey;  or  the  yellow  or  brown  tints  in 
desert  animals  which  also  are  for  self-protection; 
the  green  lines  of  tropical  birds  and  insects  which 
make  it  possible  for  them  to  dwell  without  great 
harm  and  distinction  among  the  green  foliage  of 
their  native  home;  this  exists  for  the  service  of 
self.  Some  color  markings  we  are  told  are  for 
warning  to  enemies ;  some  are  for  the  recognition  of 
the  sexes,  and  some  for  the  ready  observance  of 
specific  species  by  the  parents  or  by  the  offspring. 

A  few  illustrations  will  suffice.  Mr.  H.  O. 
Forbes  says  of  the  color  markings  on  the  beautiful 
fruit  pigeon  of  Timor,  "on  the  trees  the  white- 
headed  fruit  pigeon  sate  motionless  during  the 
heat  of  the  day  in  numbers  on  well-exposed 
branches;  but  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that 
I  or  my  sharp-eyed  native  servant  could  ever  detect 
them,  even  in  trees  where  we  knew  they  were  sit- 
ting."5 Another  naturalist  tells  us  of  a  species  of 
beautiful  sun-bird  (Nectarinia)  which  protects  it- 

6  Quoted  by  Wallace.    "Darwinism,"  p.  200. 


20  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


self  among  the  aloe  blossoms  by  its  gay  and  glar- 
ing plumage  so  that  even  the  eye  of  a  hawk  will 
scarcely  detect  it.  The  Kerivonla  picta,  a  bat  that 
inhabits  Formosa,  protects  itself  among  decaying 
foliage  by  its  brown  coloring.  Instances  like  these 
abound  in  works  on  Natural  History.  The  pro- 
tective principle  which  is  universally  present  in  na- 
ture expresses  the  service  of  self  which  is  primary 
in  the  whole  realm  of  wonderful  ministries  revealed 
in  the  world  of  life.  It  abounds  in  man's  life  not 
only  in  relation  to  his  physical  nature  but  also  in 
relation  to  his  spiritual  being.  The  gospel  of  love 
recognizes  this.  It  does  not  proclaim  a  self-less 
service  any  more  than  it  does  a  selfish  service. 
"Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  not  with  disregard 
to  thyself  but  'as  thyself.'  "  Self  is  the  standard 
of  attitude  toward  our  neighbour.  There  must  be 
a  proper  love  of  self  or  there  can  be  no  standard 
of  love  for  our  neighbour.  But  service  would  be 
meagre  if  this  was  its  ultimate  object.  There  is  the 
service  of  other  self. 

The  service  of  self  is  necessary  but  it  has  strict 
limitations.  To  stay  there  would  mean  death  to 
the  self.  Life  must  evolve  out  of  that  primary  ser- 
vice into  a  higher  ministry  which  shall  be  expressive 
of  the  relation  of  the  self  to  other  self.  A  princi- 
ple of  interdependence  exists  among  all  organic 
life,  and  for  one  organism  to  suppose  its  service  can 
be  restricted  to  itself  under  such  an  economy  would 
spell  extinction  for  its  own  being.  It  is  this  prin- 
ciple which  makes  possible,  capacity  for  one  to  serve 
another.    In  nature  it  is  illustrated  by  the  law  of 


Service:  the  Purpose  of  all  Existence  21 


cross-fertilization.  "It  is  now  well  known,"  says 
Wallace,  "that  many  flowers  require  to  be  fertilized 
by  insects  in  order  to  produce  seed,  and  this  fer- 
tilization can,  in  some  cases,  only  be  effected  by  one 
particular  species  of  insect  to  which  the  flower  has 
become  adapted."6  The  principle  of  interdepen- 
dence is  well  illustrated  by  the  following  from 
the  same  author.  Two  very  common  plants  are 
sustained  in  this  way.  The  heartsease  and  the  red 
clover  depend  for  their  fertility  on  the  visits  of  the 
humble  bees.  But  the  nests  of  these  bees  are  liable 
to  be  destroyed  by  the  field  mice ;  the  number  of  field 
mice  depends  on  the  number  of  cats  in  the  vicinity. 
In  villages  and  communities  where  cats  are  num- 
erous, the  number  of  field  mice  is  reduced,  which 
makes  it  possible  for  the  bees  to  preserve  their  nests 
intact,  and  so  work  out  their  life  functions  by  visit- 
ing the  heartsease  and  red  clover  plants,  which  also 
become  strong  and  fertile  by  means  of  these  visits. 
The  service  rendered  to  the  flowers  by  the  bees 
depends,  therefore,  on  the  number  of  field  mice  in 
the  vicinity;  while  that  in  turn  depends  on  the  num- 
ber of  cats  to  limit  the  mice;  so  that  from  the  cat 
to  the  clover  there  exists  a  strong  principle  of  in- 
terdependence. It  has  been  observed  that  red 
clover,  if  it  flourishes  at  all,  does  so  mostly  where 
cats  flourish  also.  The  bees  serve  the  flowers,  the 
cats  serve  the  bees,  while  in  all  there  is  some  service 
of  self.  The  greater  principle  of  the  service  of 
other  self,  however,  runs  through  the  whole  chain 
of  circumstances.  This  is  an  illustration  of  all  life 
6  "Darwinism,"  p.  20. 


22 


The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


progressing  and  becoming  strong  through  such  al- 
truistic service. 

The  remaining  two  principles  of  service  to  the 
whole  species  and  to  all  life,  may  be  deduced  from 
what  has  been  said  of  the  two  former  principles. 
By  principles  of  self-protection  which  enable  crea- 
tures to  serve  themselves,  a  service  is  rendered  to 
the  whole  species.  By  providing  for  and  protecting 
the  individual  organism  the  whole  species  can  be 
sustained  and  perpetuated.  If  some  species  of  wild 
animals,  beautiful  birds  of  plumage  and  those  crea- 
tures designated  as  rare  and  choice  game,  could  de- 
fend themselves  more  from  the  rapacious  hunter, 
there  would  not  be  the  growing  danger  of  whole 
species  going  out  of  existence.  By  such  service  to 
the  self  a  service  is  also  rendered  to  the  whole  spe- 
cies. 

Then  there  is  the  larger  service  which  is  ren- 
dered to  all  life,  which  may  be  observed  by  refer- 
ence to  a  previous  illustration.  The  red  clover, 
which  was  served  by  the  bees,  and  the  bees  served 
by  the  cats,  in  turn  served  life  generally.  The 
clover  becomes  food  for  the  cattle  and  the  cattle 
help  to  feed  man;  while  the  bees  are  most  generous 
producers  of  honey,  which  is  of  such  service  to  man. 
Here  we  have  an  instance  of  the  manner  in  which 
all  life  becomes  debtor  to  the  service  rendered 
in  lower  spheres  and  among  lesser  creatures. 

Is  not  this  line  of  service,  rising  from  that  of  the 
individual  self  to  the  universal  self,  one  of  the  lines 
which  has  guided  in  the  gradual  ascent  of  life? 
"In  the  course  of  the  ages,"  says  Prof.  Thompson, 


Service:  the  Purpose  of  all  Existence  23 


"life  has  been  slowly  creeping  upward,  finding  finer 
and  finer  expression,  and  not  along  one  line  only 
but  along  many  lines."  7  One  of  these  is  the  line  of 
service.  Capacities  for  service  increase  in  the 
gradual  ascent  of  life;  and  in  turn  as  the  sphere  of 
service  rises  higher  and  higher  and  unfolds  itself 
in  greater  values,  and  is  filled  by  the  motion  of  those 
capacities,  the  life  of  the  organism  rises  toward  a 
greater  fulness  and  freedom  and  nobility  of  being, 
and  becomes  enriched  by  an  inestimable  and  glowing 
experience. 

We  may  therefore  sum  up  our  idea  of  universal 
service  under  the  two  following  heads:  there  is  the 
service  of  the  higher  by  the  lower,  and  then  the 
service  of  the  lower  by  the  higher.  The  former  is 
the  law  in  operation  from  the  electron  and  the  atom 
up  to  man.  Matter  itself  is  involved  in  this  prin- 
ciple. Existing  as  it  does  on  the  lowest  plane  of 
being  it  cannot  do  otherwise  than  serve  that  wThich 
is  higher.  The  materials  of  the  earth  render  the 
most  universal  sendee.  Spirit  is  of  no  use  to  mat- 
ter, but  matter  is  of  absolute  service  to  spirit. 
Along  this  way  lies  the  progress  of  all  life,  civiliza- 
tion and  power.  If  there  is  any  attempt  to  reverse 
the  order  these  decline  and  are  in  danger  of  extinc- 
tion. When  spirit  in  any  form  endeavours  to  serve 
matter  confusion  results.  This  is  well  put  by 
Prof.  Piatt:  "Matter  moreover,  subserves  the  uses 
of  spirit.  We  never  find  this  relation  between 
them  reversed ;  spirit  is  apparently  of  no  use  to  mat- 
ter.   Matter  seeks  no  ends;  it  gives  no  law;  it  is 

7  "The  Bible  of  Nature,"  p.  150. 


24 


The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


not  even  a  law  unto  itself ;  it  is  the  medium  of  com- 
munion between  spirit  and  spirit.  Spirit  moves 
matter  into  the  rhythm  of  song  and  story  and  into 
the  syllables  of  spiritual  speech,  moulds  it  into  forms 
of  art  and  architecture,  masters  it  for  the  service 
of  industry  and  husbandry.  By  means  of  matter  in 
its  myriad  forms  spirit  realizes  itself,  educates  itself, 
intensifies  its  emotions,  fulfils  its  ends.  Every- 
where, matter  is  a  marvellous  correspondent  to 
the  need  of  spirit.  This  service  seems  to  be  the 
end  for  which  matter  exists."  8 

By  the  service  which  is  thus  rendered  in  the  low- 
est sphere  the  personality  of  spirit  is  developed.  The 
materials  of  the  world  are  the  means  whereby  the 
spiritual  nature  expresses  itself  and  thereby  grows 
and  attains  perfection.  Matter  must  serve  the 
higher,  and  there  must  be  no  reversal  of  this  order. 
If  such  a  reversal  is  attempted,  what  ensues?  Ma- 
terialism then  begins  to  work  its  ravages  and  degen- 
eration of  spirit  becomes  a  fact.  So  long  as  matter 
serves  spirit  and  spirit  simply  uses  matter  for  high 
ends  progress  of  the  nobler  kind  results,  but  when 
spirit  bows  down  to  matter  and  the  order  of  ser- 
vice is  reversed,  the  history  of  the  ages  gives  another 
verdict.  There  is  not  very  much  danger  to-day  of 
a  theoretical  materialism  but  there  is  the  graver 
danger  of  a  practical  materialism.  The  craven 
worship  of  wealth,  the  insatiable  thirst  for  pleasure, 
the  indifference  to  spiritual  ideals  among  the  masses 
express  materialism  of  a  grosser  kind. 

If  there  is  need  for  further  illustration  of  the  ser- 
8  "Immanence  and  Christian  Thought,"  p.  84. 


Service:  the  Purpose  of  all  Existence  25 


vice  of  the  lower  organisms  to  those  on  the  higher 
planes  of  being,  science  affords  many  such.  Gil- 
bert White  and  Charles  Darwin  have  both  testi- 
fied to  the  service  of  the  little  earthworms  which 
men  often  tread  under  their  feet.  "Pause  to  think 
of  the  part  earthworms  have  played  in  the  history 
of  the  earth  and  we  recognize  that  they  are  the  most 
useful  of  animals.  By  their  burrowing  they  loosen 
the  earth,  making  way  for  the  plant  rootlets  and 
the  raindrops;  by  bruising  the  soil  in  their  gizzard 
they  reduce  the  mineral  particles  to  more  useful 
form;  by  burying  the  surface  with  stuff  brought  up 
from  beneath  they  were  ploughers  before  the 
plough,  and  by  burying  leaves  they  have  made  a 
great  part  of  the  vegetable  mould  over  the  whole 
earth.  There  may  be  50,000  or  500,000  of  them 
in  an  acre;  they  often  pass  ten  tons  of  soil  per  acre 
per  annum  through  their  bodies;  and  they  cover  the 
surface  at  the  rate  of  three  inches  in  fifteen  years. 
We  begin  to  respect  them."  9 

What  a  wonderful  tribute  to  a  wonderful  service 
rendered  in  the  lower  realms  of  life!  How  could 
man  till  the  soil  without  them?  And  without  til- 
lage of  the  soil  how  could  he  provide  for  himself? 
The  same  thought  can  be  extended  to  even  more 
obscure  things.  The  great  scenery  of  the  world  in 
which  we  live  has  been  erected  and  formed  by  min- 
istries rendered  in  obscurity.  The  influence  of  the 
lichens  in  shapening  the  huge  stones  along  the  sea- 
coast,  the  power  of  the  sea-weed  in  reducing  the 
shock  of  the  waves,  the  value  of  mosses  in  mitigat- 

9  Thomson's  "The  Bible  of  Nature,"  p.  32. 


26 


The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


ing  floods  and  conserving  moisture,  and  feeding  our 
springs  and  streams  in  a  time  of  drought;  the  serv- 
ice of  plants  in  storing  up  the  sunlight  for  our 
warmth  and  comfort;  the  utility  of  the  grass  in 
clothing  the  earth  and  making  it  a  fit  and  pleasant 
place  to  dwell  in,  besides  affording  food  for  animal 
and  human  life;  these  are  but  hints  of  the  wider 
service  rendered  in  the  lower  realms  of  life  to  those 
realms  of  higher  being.  They  are  illustrations  of 
the  former  principle  enunciated. 

Under  this  principle  we  see  the  gradual  ascent 
of  life.  As  it  rises  the  capacity  for  service  becomes 
greater.  But  when  it  reaches  the  law  of  service 
found  in  man's  life  there  is  a  large  reversal  of  the 
order  and  we  see  an  opposite  principle  at  work:  the 
higher  serves  the  lower.  Yet  while  it  seems  a  re- 
versal of  the  former,  it  really  becomes  its  goal. 
From  the  electron  to  man  the  lower  serves:  from 
man  to  God,  the  higher  serves.  We  have  now  risen 
a  step  higher. 

The  law  of  service  now  wears  a  moral  aspect  and 
we  rise  out  of  the  material  into  the  spiritual.  We 
are  attaining  to  a  conception  of  the  highest  kind  of 
service.  It  is  not  that  things  serve  things  or  that 
organism  enters  the  service  of  higher  organisms:  it 
is  that  spirit  serves  spirit,  and  personality  enters  into 
the  service  of  personality.  The  principle  at  work 
in  the  progress  of  man  is  that  of  vicariousness. 
Apart  from  that  principle  there  seems  to  have  been 
little  progress  in  the  past.  This  is  the  principle  at 
work  in  man's  relation  to  man  and  even  in  God's 
relation  to  man.    The  best  in  society  give  them- 


Service:  the  Purpose  of  all  Existence  2J 


selves  for  the  worst.  The  flower  of  the  race  bows 
to  the  law  of  sacrifice  that  the  whole  field  of  life 
might  be  covered  with  verdant  green  and  floral 
colorings.  A  few  choice  souls  in  all  ages  of  man's 
history  have  borne  the  burdens  of  the  multitude  and 
life  has  gone  on  growing  freer,  stronger,  nobler  and 
of  more  value.  As  Dr.  Bruce  says:  "Sacrifice  is 
the  cost  of  progress,  and  the  instrument  of  redemp- 
tion ;  not  otherwise  is  real  advance  attainable. 

And  who  are  the  victims  of  this  law?  They  are 
ever  the  nobler  and  the  best  of  men.  They  are  men 
of  heroic  temper  who  love  truth  with  passion  and 
will  speak  it  come  what  may;  who  hunger  after 
righteousness  and  will  do  it  all  at  hazard.  They 
are  the  original  men,  the  discoverers  of  new  truths, 
the  inaugurators  of  better  ways  of  thinking  and 
acting,  the  pioneers  of  beneficent  movements,  the 
reformers  of  evil  custom,  the  enthusiasts  of  human- 
ity, whose  ambition  is  to  leave  the  world  in  some 
way  better  than  they  found  it."10 

Now  this  is  service  of  the  lower  by  the  higher,  of 
the  worst  by  the  best ;  it  is  a  spiritual  service  which 
is  enacted  only  on  the  higher  planes  of  being.  With- 
out such  service  the  lower  could  not  rise  to  higher 
and  more  dignified  activities  of  life.  Man  as  a 
mass  does  not  rise  alone;  he  must  be  lifted  into 
the  place  God  meant  him  to  occupy  in  His  universe, 
by  the  elect  souls  whom  Heaven  has  sent  for  that 
purpose.    That  is  their  service  to  humanity. 

But  even  here  the  law  of  service  does  not  stop. 
The  best  of  the  sons  of  men  giving  themselves  for 

10  "Providential  Order,"  pp.  345,  347. 


28  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


those  lower  in  the  scale  of  life's  thought  and  action, 
are  but  reproductions  and  human  expressions  of  the 
law  under  which  God  himself  serves.  The  service 
of  the  higher  to  the  lower  finds  its  noblest  expres- 
sion in  the  service  of  God  to  man.  God  has  en- 
tered into  the  service  of  humanity  through  the  acts 
of  creation  and  redemption.  Out  of  the  fulness  of 
eternal  and  infinite  Love  the  world  came;  and  in 
the  fulness  of  that  Love  it  dwells  and  is  sustained. 
The  world  was  made  for  God  to  love;  and  love 
being  the  highest  potency  of  service,  we  see  that 
God  has  created  and  entered  our  humanity  for  no 
other  purpose.  It  is  God's  nature  to  impart  Him- 
self. He  could  not  impart  Himself  absolutely 
to  the  minerals  and  trees,  and  animals  of  the  world, 
but  He  could  impart  Himself  to  that  intelligent 
and  moral  creature  who  bears  His  image  and  like- 
ness. God  is  in  our  humanity  for  service,  and  His 
service  is  the  fullest  expression  of  His  love.  Is  not 
this  the  meaning  of  the  great  principle  of  Divine 
Immanence?  Does  it  not  permeate  the  doctrines 
of  the  Incarnation  and  Divine  Sacrifice?  "Imman- 
uel,  God  with  us,"  for  no  other  purpose  than  serv- 
ice. And  this  service  is  mediated  to-day  by  the 
gracious  and  ever-present  ministry  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

What  is  it  all  for?  That  man  might  become  fit 
to  serve  God,  and  in  serving  Him  to  enter  into  full- 
est fellowship  with  Him.  Entering  into  this  fel- 
lowship, he  imbibes  His  Spirit  and  then  goes  forth 
to  express  Himself  in  acts  of  service  for  his  fellow- 
man.    The  highest  law  of  service  is  reached  when 


Service:  the  Purpose  of  all  Existence  29 


men  thus  come  into  fellowship  with  God.  From 
inorganic  matter  up  to  the  throne  of  God  the  uni- 
verse teems  and  throbs  with  the  purpose  of  service. 


CHAPTER  II 


The  Question  of  Fitness 


The  olive  tree  said  unto  them,  "Should  I  leave 
7Jiy  fatness,  wherewith  by  me  they  honor  God  and 
man?  .  .  ,M 

The  fig  tree  said  unto  them,  "Should  I  forsake 
my  sweetness  and  my  good  fruit?  .  . 

The  vine  said  unto  them,  "Should  I  leave  my 
wine,  which  cheer eth  God  and  Man?  .  . 

'"PHESE  trees  recognized  a  special  fitness  for  a 


special  kind  of  service.  One  was  equipped  for 
rendering  fatness  to  men;  another  was  able  to  give 
forth  sweetness;  the  other  could  dispense  cheerful- 
ness; peculiar  kinds  of  service  which  are  necessary. 
This  is  what  nature  had  fitted  them  to  give.  And 
this  principle  of  fitness  possessed  by  these  trees  of 
the  parable  is  not  confined  to  them,  but  is  present 
throughout  all  organized  being.  It  is  a  general 
principle.  To  render  service  according  to  the  gifts 
of  nature  is  the  very  essence  of  wisdom.  There  is 
something  very  rational  about  the  attitude  of  the 
trees  though  other  and  later  lessons  can  be  learned 
from  such.  To  have  left  their  capacity  for  fatness, 
or  sweetness,  or  cheer  would  have  meant  neglect  of 
their  natural  functions  and  probably  failure  in 


The  Question  of  Fitness 


3i 


attempting  that  for  which,  by  nature,  they  were  not 
fit.  We  are  successful  with  nature's  gifts  when  we 
are  loyal  to  them. 

What  a  great  conception  of  fitness  for  service 
these  trees  had !  The  olive  tree,  a  native  of  Syria,  in 
its  native  state  is  only  a  thorny  shrub,  but  under 
cultivation  it  becomes  a  tree  from  twenty  to  thirty 
feet  high  and  is  destitute  of  spines.  It  is  of  two 
kinds,  and  they  are  distinguished  by  their  leaves  and 
fruit.  One  has  narrow  willow-like  leaves,  gray-green 
above  and  silvery  below.  In  the  other  the  leaves  are 
broader  and  the  fruit  larger.  The  oil  from  this  fruit 
is  used  largely  in  Spain  and  Italy  instead  of  cream 
and  butter  for  cooking  purposes,  and  is  considered 
more  wholesome  than  animal  fats.  It  is  also  used 
for  edible  purposes,  for  soap-making  and  in  the 
Turkish  red  dyeing  process,  and  for  salad  and  virgin 
oil.  The  wood  of  the  olive  tree  is  valued  by  cabinet 
makers  for  its  beauty  of  grain  and  color  and  its 
capacity  for  very  fine  polish.  It  certainly  honors 
God  and  man  by  the  service  it  renders. 

The  common  fig  tree,  though  a  native  of  the 
East,  is  extensively  cultivated  throughout  the  south 
of  Europe  and  in  some  parts  of  America.  It  is  a 
low  deciduous  shrub,  about  fifteen  or  twenty  feet 
high,  with  large  deeply  lobed  leaves,  which  are  rough 
above  and  downy  beneath.  Its  fruit  has  varied 
color :  Some  bluish  black,  some  red,  purple,  yellow, 
green  or  white.  It  is  used  as  dried  figs  as  an  impor- 
tant article  of  food  in  the  Levant,  and  in  northern 
regions  for  dessert,  and  medicinal  purposes.  It  has 
much  sweetness  to  give. 


32  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


We  know  how  true  was  the  vine  in  its  conscious- 
ness of  fitness  for  service.  It  is  exceeding  fruitful 
and  were  it  not  for  the  fingers  of  the  husbandman 
in  carefully  trimming  and  thinning  and  purging  the 
berries  on  the  clusters,  it  would  soon  exhaust  itself 
by  over-production.  It  is  lavish  in  its  service  of 
cheer  for  man.  This  then  is  the  varied  service  for 
which  these  trees  are  fitted  by  nature;  and  the  idea 
introduces  to  us  the  great  principle  of  fitness  which 
is  universal. 

It  is  a  principle  of  nature.  "Evolutionary  law," 
says  Prof.  Bruce,  "ever  tends  to  increasing  specializa- 
tion. Generic  types  of  life  come  low  down  in  the 
scale;  the  higher  we  rise  the  more  specialized  the 
type,  the  more  pronounced  the  individuality."  1  Now 
what  is  the  purpose  of  this  "increasing  specializa- 
tion? Is  it  not  to  make  some  organisms  exceeding 
fit  for  special  kinds  of  service?  The  great  law  of 
the  survival  of  the  fittest  means  none  other  than  this. 
Beings  are  made  fit  to  survive  that  through  their 
very  survival  they  may  be  made  fit  to  serve.  In 
truth,  many  organisms  in  nature  survive  through 
rendering  a  service  for  which  they  are  fit.  "We  can- 
not doubt  that  on  the  whole  any  beneficial  variations 
will  give  the  possessors  of  it  a  probability  of  living 
through  the  tremendous  ordeal  they  have  to  under- 
go. There  may  be  something  left  to  chance  but  on 
the  whole  the  fittest  will  survive."  2  It  survives 
ultimately  because  it  is  fit  for  service.  For  says 
Wallace  again,  "if  in  each  generation  of  a  given  ani- 

1  "Providential  Order,"  p.  288. 
'Wallace,  "Darwinism,"  p.  11. 


The  Question  of  Fitness 


33 


mal  or  plant  the  fittest  survive  to  continue  the  breed, 
then  whatever  may  be  the  special  peculiarity  that 
causes  'fitness'  in  the  particular  case,  that  peculiarity 
will  go  on  increasing  and  strengthening  so  long  as 
it  is  useful  to  the  species."  3  As  long  therefore  as  it 
sustains  its  fitness  for  a  peculiar  service  to  the  whole 
species  it  is  perpetuated. 

Nature  is  very  busy  by  her  varied  laws  and  meth- 
ods calling  her  offspring  to  service,  many  of  them  to 
particular  service.  But  she  calls  only  those  who  are 
fit  or  can  be  made  fit.  By  laws  of  specialization, 
variation,  adaptation  and  others,  she  is  continually 
fitting  special  agents  for  special  work.  In  every  case 
their  fitness  is  the  key  to  their  service.  She  never 
places  into  office,  or  position  or  service  the  unfit. 
Man  may  do  that  in  his  realm,  but  nature  refuses  to 
use  such  incongruous  tactics  in  her  sphere.  She 
either  destroys  the  unfit  right  out  or  relegates  them 
to  obscurity  and  oblivion.  But  where  there  is  the 
slightest  tendency  to  variation  or  where  there  is  the 
least  possibility  of  a  new  adaptation,  she  quickly 
seizes  her  opportunity  to  fit  one  that  is  subject  to 
such,  for  a  new  service  to  be  rendered.  It  is,  how- 
ever, immaterial  at  present  how  nature  fits  her 
special  agents.  What  we  wish  to  note  is,  only  those 
who  are  fit  can  serve  in  any  given  capacity.  The 
olive  can  give  fatness,  the  fig  sweetness,  the  vine 
good  and  healthy  cheer,  and  if  they  forsake  those 
natural  functions  for  another  office,  political  though 
it  is,  their  mission  in  life  may  be  a  failure. 

"Wallace,  "Darwinism,"  p.  12. 


34  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


This  is  also  a  principle  of  Providence.  The  choices 
of  Providence  are  not  capricious  nor  arbitrary  nor 
haphazard.  They  are  made  on  the  basis  of  fitness  for 
particular  ends.  Races,  nations  and  individuals  seem 
to  be  selected  in  this  manner  again  and  again.  Cer- 
tain races  have  been  chosen  for  particular  kinds  of 
service  while  others  have  been  passed  by  or  left  in  ob- 
scurity and  have  made  little  impression  on  subse- 
quent history. 

It  requires  no  stretch  of  the  imagination  to  see 
that  the  Semitic  race  has  shone  more  brilliantly  in 
history,  and  rendered  a  greater  service  to  mankind 
than  the  negro  race !  A  recent  writer  has  compared 
the  service  of  the  Indian  with  that  of  the  Saxon 
much  to  the  disparagement  of  the  former.  "The 
Indian,"  he  said,  "has  had  his  chance.  A  few  have 
embraced  the  chance ;  but  the  Indian  as  a  race  has  re- 
fused the  upward  life  and  preferred  his  old  life  and 
habits.  He  sits  solemn  and  morose,  and  filled  with 
murmurings  and  hatred  to  that  which  would  have 
as  certainly  lifted  him  up  as  it  lifted  up  the  Saxon 
from  his  fierceness  and  idolatry."  4 

There  is  a  selective  Power  at  work  among  the 
races,  determining  their  fitness  for  service,  and 
choosing  or  refusing  them  according  to  such.  It 
was  no  mere  historical  accident  by  which  the  hand- 
ful of  Greeks  at  Marathon  overcame  the  hordes  of 
Persians,  beat  them  back  and  prevented  them  from 
changing  the  colors  of  civilization  from  intellectual 
whiteness  to  mental  darkness  and  stagnation.  Nor 

4Lathrop,  "How  a  Man  Grows,"  p.  117. 


The  Question  of  Fitness 


35 


was  it  mere  caprice  of  some  hidden  Power  that 
placed  the  destinies  of  races  in  the  hands  of  the  pro- 
gressive law-enforcing  and  governmental  Romans 
rather  than  in  the  hands  of  the  abhorrent  paganism 
of  the  Carthaginians.  "It  was  well,"  says  Dr. 
Bruce,  "that  they  were  beaten.  For  Carthage  be- 
longed to  the  bad  stock  of  the  Pagan  Semites  whose 
religion  was  a  revolting  combination  of  cruelty  and 
lust,  human  sacrifice  and  sacred  prostitution."5  The 
services  rendered  by  Greece  and  Rome  are  indicative 
of  their  fitness  for  that  particular  service.  These 
events  in  their  history  are  but  points  in  the  selective 
process  at  work  on  their  behalf. 

In  a  more  specific  sense  it  may  be  seen  that  the 
same  principle  rules  in  national  service.  Certain 
nations,  like  certain  races,  seem  to  have  been  chosen 
for  certain  kinds  of  service  because  they  were  fit  for 
that  service.  The  three  chief  nations  of  antiquity 
were  Israel,  Greece  and  Rome.  They  each  ren- 
dered a  different  service  to  the  world  and  what  may 
be  particularly  noticed  is,  altogether  they  have 
rendered  a  complete,  compact  fitting  service  for  the 
progress  of  life  and  civilization.  It  is  generally  con- 
ceded that  Israel  has  given  the  world  its  highest  re- 
ligion ;  Greece  has  given  it  its  highest  intellect;  while 
Rome  has  given  the  greatest  conception  and  practice 
in  law  and  government.  This  was  their  mission. 
The  service  rendered  by  one  was  not,  and  perhaps 
could  not  have  been  rendered  by  the  other.  Accord- 
ing to  their  particular  temperaments  each  was  fit  to 

8  "Providential  Order,"  p.  219. 


36  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


render  its  own  particular  service.  Israel  did  not 
shine  in  the  aesthetic  world,  though  she  was  not  al- 
together void  of  the  sense  of  the  beautiful;  she  had 
little  to  give  of  the  arts  and  philosophies,  but  in  the 
realm  of  religion  and  character,  her  light  was  as  the 
sun  shineth  in  her  meridian  glory;  it  cannot  be 
eclipsed.  Greece,  however,  did  not  give  the  world 
any  religion  of  brightness  and  power ;  she  cared  very 
little  for  character;  when  her  arts  and  philosophies 
were  at  their  greatest  heights,  her  morals  were  ex- 
ceeding low.  She  has  given  the  world  the  light  of 
reason.  But  neither  Greece  nor  Israel  could  have 
done  what  Rome  did.  Israel  had  religion  and 
Greece  intellect,  but  they  lacked  the  power  of  distri- 
bution of  what  they  had  through  the  spread  of  gov- 
ernment. Their  great  sin  was  the  sin  of  religious 
and  intellectual  parochialism.  A  people  must  be  pro- 
vided to  prepare  the  way  for  the  distribution  of  the 
blessings  of  Israel  and  Greece,  and  that  people  was 
the  Romans.  They  conquered  Greece  by  force  of 
arms,  and  Greece  conquered  Rome  by  force  of  in- 
tellect. What  Rome  assimilated  she  also  distributed 
and  the  world  became  richer  for  the  conquest  of 
Israel  and  Greece  by  Rome,  and  the  subsequent  scat- 
tering of  their  powers  by  the  progress  of  the  Roman 
ideas  of  law  and  order.  Each  had  a  particular  fit- 
ness for  the  particular  service  to  which  she  was 
called. 

Now  special  service  necessitates  the  fitting  and 
calling  of  special  agents.  History  has  not  progressed 
by.  the  general  distribution  of  the  gifts  of  Provi- 
dence to  the  mass,  but  by  the  concentration  of  these 


The  Question  of  Fitness 


37 


gifts  upon  a  few,  who  ultimately  served  the  many. 
Power  which  is  scattered  often  becomes  futile  in 
service,  but  power  confined  within  a  small  compass, 
increases,  and  becomes  more  efficient  for  service. 
"The  genius  and  vocation  of  a  people,"  says  Bruce, 
"becomes  incarnated  in  a  choice  few."  This  is  neces- 
sary in  order  to  conserve  that  genius,  otherwise  it 
would  not  fulfil  its  vocation.  So  "great  epoch- 
making  men  are  scarce"  because  they  would  not  be 
"great  epoch-making  men"  if  they  were  plentiful. 
The  great  special  gifts  of  God  that  are  essential  for 
the  uplifting  and  progress  of  the  race  are  too  choice 
to  be  scattered  broadcast,  where  they  run  the  risk  of 
being  trampled  under  foot  of  men;  they  must  be 
centred  in  the  choice  few  who  will  so  conserve  them 
and  make  them  powerful  to  fulfil  the  service  of  life 
for  which  they  were  intended. 

One  of  the  most  astounding  facts  of  history  is,  the 
right  man  appears  at  the  right  time  and  in  the  right 
place.  Even  pessimistic  philosophers  admit  that. 
This  means  that  a  process  is  at  work  for  fitting  spe- 
cial agents  for  special  work,  otherwise  it  is  inexplica- 
ble. The  study  of  great  lives  who  have  been  special 
factors  in  racial  and  national  progress  reveal  this. 
Abraham  was  a  proper  person,  in  whom  was  the 
great  principle  of  faith,  to  become  the  Father  of  the 
Jewish  nation.  Subsequent  history  proves  that. 
Again  when  the  choice  was  narrowed  down  accord- 
ing to  sound  selective  principle,  by  what  apparently 
was  an  aberration  of  conduct  it  fell  on  one  of  two 
men.  Jacob  was  chosen,  Esau  was  refused.  Does 
the  question  of  fitness  appear  here  ?  Was  Jacob  more 


38  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


fit  than  Esau  for  the  service  in  view?  Esau  seemed 
the  more  honorable  at  the  time — Jacob  was  more 
pliable;  but  that  very  pliability  became  a  factor  in 
the  fitting  of  Jacob  for  the  special  task.  His  name 
might  never  have  been  changed  to  Israel  but  for 
that  element  in  his  nature.  Temperamentally  Jacob 
was  more  fit  than  Esau  to  be  the  father  of  the 
twelve  tribes,  the  great  initiator  of  a  special  people 
raised  up  for  a  special  purpose.  Esau's  nature  was 
too  wild  and  nomadic  for  this  purpose  and  when 
that  temperament  of  Jacob's  became  fused  with  re- 
ligious power  and  purpose,  he  became  fit  for  his 
service.  Moses  was  fit  by  heredity,  environment, 
education,  and  religion  to  be  the  leader  of  a  people 
to  their  destined  land  where  they  could  fulfil  their 
destined  purpose.  We  would  have  to  go  back  a  long 
way  into  the  ancestry  of  Moses  to  discover  the  be- 
ginnings of  the  process  whereby  he  became  fit  for  his 
particular  mission.  Hereditary  and  environmental 
influences  were  at  work  under  Providential  selec- 
tion, by  the  conjunction  of  personalities  and  circum- 
stances, making  possible  the  appearances  of  such  a 
powerful  personality  at  such  a  necessitous  time.  The 
case  of  the  call  of  Gideon  peculiarly  illustrates  our 
contention.  He  was  chosen  not  because  of  his  cir- 
cumstances; (from  the  human  point  of  view  they 
were  against  him  as  he  himself  perceived,  though 
who  can  say  how  great  a  place  these  had  in  the 
preparatory  processes  of  his  life),  but  because  of 
his  special  fitness  for  the  task  assigned  him. 

The  course  of  history  is  full  of  crises,  but  there  is 
always  a  man  to  meet  the  crisis.   A  particular  time 


The  Question  of  Fitness 


39 


calls  for  a  particular  man  and  he  is  forthcoming.  A 
David  is  found  among  the  obscure  family  of  Jesse, 
for  the  purpose  of  perfecting  the  organization  of  the 
national  existence;  the  Hebrew  prophets  appear 
just  when  they  were  needed;  even  Christ  himself 
was  subject  to  this  same  providential  law  for  He  ap- 
peared only  "when  the  fulness  of  the  time  was  come." 
The  call  of  Paul  is  particularly  relevant  in  this  con- 
sideration. Never  was  there  a  case  of  special  fitness 
for  a  special  service  more  apparent  than  was  his. 
By  temperament  and  training  no  man  was  more  fit 
to  be  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  than  he  was.  With 
strong  religious  tendencies,  with  pioneering  instincts, 
with  the  wisdom  of  the  schools,  and  with  the  infused 
Spirit  of  Christ,  above  all  with  an  unexcelled  under- 
standing of  the  genius  of  Christianity  as  an  universal 
religion,  where  could  Providence  find  a  more  fitting 
instrument  for  spreading  the  religion  of  the  Re- 
deemer than  Saul  of  Tarsus?  What  would  the  Ref- 
ormation of  the  fifteenth  century  have  been  without 
Luther?  It  would  have  perished  in  the  hands  of  its 
friends.  Cromwell  was  a  fitting  person  to  develop 
the  instincts  of  the  commonwealth  and  carry  forth 
the  principles  of  liberty.  The  Emancipation  move- 
ment and  others,  all  show  that  fitness  was  the  key 
to  service.  Wilberforce,  Sharpe,  Forwell-Buxton, 
Lincoln,  Garrison,  Whittier,  all  played  their  part 
in  that  movement  and  succeeded  because  of  that  one 
fundamental  qualification. 

The  moulding  and  development,  and  perfecting  of 
that  quality  may  require  great  periods  of  time.  The 
preparation  of  great  men  for  their  work  does  not  be- 


40 


The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


gin  at  birth.  It  may  have  to  be  traced  back  into 
many  generations.  Along  through  the  pathway  of 
parental  and  genealogical  obscurity  we  may  have  to 
go  to  find  its  beginning.  The  ways  of  Providential 
leading  and  fitness  begin  in  obscurity  and  proceed 
through  quiet  unnoticed  avenues  of  life  until  the 
preparation  is  well-nigh  complete  and  the  time  is 
ripe  for  the  great  agent  to  appear.  The  birth  of 
Moses  was  not  the  beginning  but  the  revelation  of 
a  great  personality  and  factor  in  history.  God  be- 
gan his  greatness  ages  before  and  watched  its  devel- 
opment until  He  required  him.  It  is  alike  with  great 
men  and  great  nations;  they  have  developed  in  ob- 
scurity and  isolation,  where  their  powers  have  been 
conserved  and  made  fit  for  their  ultimate  service. 
Providence  as  well  as  nature  knows  how  to  store  up 
for  future  use.  This  only  shows  how  particular 
Providence  is  to  get  the  right  man  for  the  right  serv- 
ice. It  is  a  necessary  line  of  action  and  is  only  in 
harmony  with  the  universal  intelligence  and  plan 
upon  which  progress  is  based. 

There  is  therefore  a  natural  basis  for  fitness  found 
in  most  men.  Bruce  mentions  two  conditions  de- 
termining such:  "Original  peculiarity  and  then 
careful  conservation  of  the  distinctive  feature."6  In 
nature  the  same  principles  operate  under  the  names 
of  heredity  and  variation.  Heredity  stands  for 
the  inherent  powers  of  life  which  come  through  the 
line  of  descent;  variation  represents  the  departure 
of  the  powers  from  the  line  of  descent,  enabling  the 

""Providential  Order,"  p.  295. 


The  Question  of  Fitness 


4i 


possessor  to  strike  out  a  new  and  distinct  course  in 
life  which  may  ultimately  lead  to  uniqueness  and 
greatness  and  distinction  of  personality.  Without 
this  latter  there  could  be  no  special  agent  and  very 
little  progress.  Unless  these  inherent  powers  are 
realized  by  the  personal  agent  all  the  training  and 
power  of  conservation  which  may  be  applied  will  be 
of  little  avail.  On  the  other  hand,  for  a  personal 
being  to  realize  these  inherent  powers  beckoning  him 
to  distinct  action,  and  then  to  neglect  their  conser- 
vation and  development  is  to  refuse  to  fall  into  line 
with  the  Providential  plan.  This  is  where  and  why 
many  fail  in  life.  They  are  not  following  that  for 
which  nature  fitted  them,  and  in  the  midst  of  society 
appear  like  square  pegs  in  round  holes. 

The  great  reason  and  purpose  of  our  existence  is 
to  develop  and  work  out  our  personality.  We  must 
train  our  powers  of  nature  for  the  service  for  which 
they  are  fitted.  Personality  is  to  be  developed  out 
of  the  hereditary  materials  at  our  disposal.  It  is 
something  each  one  must  make  for  himself,  and 
while  he  may  receive  aid  from  others,  he  alone  can 
create  and  work  out  his  personal  self.  This  is  his 
great  business  in  life.  It  will  be  the  commencement 
of  the  fulfilment  of  a  purpose  which  will  not  end 
with  death  but  will  find  its  absolute  scope  and  op- 
portunity beyond.  "Out  of  the  same  fundamental 
self,"  says  Stevens,  "he  and  not  another  for  him  will 
achieve  a  personality  good  or  evil,  great  (it  may  be) 
or  mean."  7 

T  "Psychology  of  the  Christian  Soul,"  p.  8. 


42  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


Dr.  Stelzle  tells  in  his  Merrick  Lecture,  of  a 

young  Jewess  and  Socialist  who  came  from  a  sweat- 
shop in  Chicago  to  a  Western  College,  to  secure  a 
four  years'  training  to  equip  herself  so  that  she  might 
return  to  the  sweatshop  and  preach  the  salvation  of 
socialism  to  her  unfortunate  fellow-workers.  What 
a  duty  to  herself  and  others  she  was  performing  by 
thus  developing  her  powers  of  nature  for  service! 
"The  best  way  to  serve  the  universal  interest  is  to  be 
thoroughly  the  particular  man  you  were  destined  to 
be  by  individual  and  racial  endowment."  8  In  other 
words  to  develop  and  work  out  your  own  person- 
ality. 

This  is  the  way  to  develop  individuality  and 
special  capacity  for  distinct  service.  Only  along 
these  lines  can  fitness  be  revealed.  Is  not  this  how 
great  personalities  have  manifested  themselves?  The 
boy  is  father  to  the  man  we  sometimes  say.  If  so, 
the  boy  begins  to  work  out  his  personal  powers.  We 
see  this  in  the  lives  of  many  great  ones.  Giotto  when 
a  boy  began  to  engrave  his  beautiful  sketches  on  the 
rocks ;  Mozart  early  gave  forth  his  wonderful  talent 
for  musical  harmony ;  Handel  amid  disadvantageous 
circumstances  was  so  impelled  by  secret  musical 
powers  that  he  made  a  very  inferior  stringed  instru- 
ment and  retired  to  an  obscure  garret  to  develop 
those  powers  by  its  aid.  Dr.  Chalmers  preached  his 
first  sermon  to  a  lone  sister  when  a  mere  boy,  there- 
by indicating  strong  tendencies  for  a  distinct  service 
in  the  future.   So  with  Humphry  Davy's  boyish  in- 

8  "Providential  Order,"  p.  293. 


The  Question  of  Fitness 


43 


ventiveness ;  Napoleon  Bonaparte's  snowball  ammu- 
nition and  soldier  play,  and  Luther  Burbank's  fin- 
gering of  fruits  and  flowers ;  all  these  manifested  in 
early  years  what  nature  had  fitted  them  for  and 
they  fulfilled  their  distinct  purpose  in  life  by  devel- 
oping their  personalities  along  those  lines. 

It  is  a  Christian  duty  to  develop  the  gifts  of  Prov- 
idence for  thereby  we  may  leave  life  richer  than  we 
found  it.  There  are  certain  plants  found  in  the 
Desert  of  Sahara  which  are  very  useful  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  that  dreary  region,  because  they  store  up 
water  in  their  roots  or  tubers.  Thereby  the  traveller, 
weary  and  worn,  is  able  to  slake  his  thirst  and  jour- 
ney on.  To  store  up  for  particular  and  general 
service  is  to  play  the  part  in  life  those  plants  are 
playing  in  the  sand-scorched  desert.  This  makes 
life  rich  and  full. 

The  question  may  be  asked,  How  can  one  dis- 
cover his  peculiar  fitness  for  this  or  that?  No  hard 
and  fast  lines  can  be  given.  There  may  be  varied 
and  undefined  ways  in  which  this  is  often  done.  It 
is  not  an  easy  matter  to  discover  one's  vocation;  a 
fa°t  which  demands  greater  watchfulness  and  wis- 
dom on  the  part  of  the  prospective  discoverer.  Gen- 
erally it  is  discovered  in  the  inner  consciousness. 
There  is  an  impulsive  tendency  within  calling  our 
attention  to  that  for  which  Providence  has  designed 
us. 

Wisely  and  well  has  Providence  assigned 

To  each  his  part : — some  forward,  some  behind. 

Prof.  Bruce  has  a  very  significant  passage  which 


44  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


shows  the  impulsive  power  at  work  within  the  spirit 
of  the  special  man.  "The  elect  man,  be  he  philoso- 
pher, poet,  prophet,  artist,  warrior,  or  saint,  com- 
monly cares  more  for  this  than  for  that,  cares  very 
much  for  one  thing,  very  little  for  most  things.  He 
cannot  help  himself ;  he  is  pre-destined  that  way,  im- 
pelled, driven  on  by  spiritual  forces  in  his  soul  lying 
deeper  than  his  will."  9  What  is  thus  realized  by  the 
great  man  in  some  measure  is  realized  by  most.  A 
man  who  never  explores  his  own  personality  will 
never  discover  the  purpose  of  his  life,  and  will  never 
realize  any  fitness  for  anything  in  particular.  A 
friend  once  found  Richard  Burke  in  a  reverie  after 
one  of  the  great  speeches  which  Edmund  had  given 
in  the  House  of  Commons.  Asked  the  wherefore  of 
such  he  said,  "I  have  been  thinking  how  Edmund 
has  contrived  to  monopolize  all  the  talent  of  the  fam- 
ily; but  then  I  remember,  when  we  were  at  play 
he  was  at  work."  What  was  he  doing?  Exploring 
the  depths  of  his  own  nature  and  storing  them  with 
materials  for  future  use ;  developing  his  own  person- 
ality so  that  at  sometime  he  might  work  it  out  in  the 
service  of  life.  Dr.  Tyndall  in  his  work  on  "Elec- 
tricity and  Its  Similitudes,"  gives  an  instance  from 
the  life  of  Ole  Bull.  A  friend  of  Ole's  had  refused 
his  request  to  hear  him  play  by  saying  "He  had  no 
taste  for  music."  Bull  entered  the  friend's  office, 
displayed  his  violin  and  said  there  was  something 
wrong  with  it.  After  talking  of  wood  fibres,  tones 
and  semi-tones  he  casually  took  his  bow  and  drew  it 

9  "Providential  Order,"  p.  298. 


1 


The  Question  of  Fitness 


45 


across  the  strings  and  began  to  play.  The  friend  was 
entranced  and  when  the  music  ceased,  with  tears  in 
his  eyes,  exclaimed,  "Play  on,  play  on,  I  never  knew 
what  was  lacking  in  my  life  before."  Here  is  a 
case  of  a  great  man  who  by  working  out  his  own 
personality  helped  another  to  discover  a  power  in 
his  personal  being.  Every  time  Ole  Bull  drew  forth 
music  from  his  instrument,  he  displayed  to  the  world 
the  music  of  his  own  being.  That  was  his  fitness  by 
nature,  and  the  service  he  could  render.  These  men 
were  conscious  of  capacities  which  ultimately  made 
them  great  in  service. 

Some  discover  their  capacities  through  the  activi- 
ties of  service.  A  rich  man  found  a  service  for 
himself  through  the  gift  of  a  small  coin  to  a  poor 
needy  woman.  When  he  gave  it  to  her  he  noticed 
the  lit-up  face  beaming  with  happiness.  Then  said 
he,  "if  the  giving  of  a  shilling  could  make  this 
woman  happy,  how  much  more  happiness  can  I  create 
by  distributing  more  of  my  wealth  to  the  poor.  I 
have  found  my  mission  in  life."  Henceforth  he  was 
a  more  useful  and  a  happier  man.  Others  find  their 
fitness  for  certain  service  amid  the  disciplines  of  life. 
They  are  tested  in  various  directions  and  thereby 
awakened  to  life's  purpose. 

Obstruction  sometimes  has  very  healthy  effects. 
We  are  baffled  to  grow  stronger.  The  river  Leon- 
tes  in  upper  Galilee  runs  through  various  obstruc- 
tive mountains,  and  then  comes  forth  out  of  these  a 
clear  and  placid  stream.  Many  have  come  through 
the  difficulties  and  disciplines  of  life  purer,  stronger 
and  more  fit  for  its  service.   They  have  thereby  dis- 


46  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


covered  their  peculiar  fitness.  It  matters  little  how 
this  is  revealed  to  men  so  long  as  they  are  conscious 
of  its  presence.  There  is  no  other  key  to  service 
than  this.  This  is  the  true  order  and  only  when  this 
is  reversed  is  there  the  greatest  possibility  of  failure. 
Progress  is  accomplished,  both  personally  and  ra- 
cially, chiefly  when  this  is  actualized  in  life.  After 
a  great  battle  with  the  Romans,  Pyrrhus,  looking 
over  the  field  and  observing  that  the  Roman  dead 
had  all  their  wounds  in  front,  exclaimed,  "If  these 
were  my  soldiers,  or  if  I  were  their  general  we  should 
conquer  the  world!"  The  old  soldier  had  a  sense 
of  the  fitness  of  things.  He  knew  the  fitness  of 
these  men  for  their  particular  service  and  what  could 
be  accomplished  by  such.  Soldiers  with  wounds  in 
their  backs  could  never  conquer  the  world.  They 
would  be  unfit. 

But  this  principle  of  fitness  belongs  also  to  the 
realm  of  character  and  religion.  It  obtains  in  the 
sphere  of  morals,  individual  and  collective.  The  fit- 
ness of  nations  for  particular  service  includes  this 
element  of  character.  It  is  often  for  the  lack  of 
this  they  decline  and  fail.  Israel,  Greece  and  Rome 
became  weak  through  this  lack.  They  became  unfit 
for  their  great  mission  ultimately  through  the  pres- 
ence of  vice.  Genius  and  character  must  accompany 
each  other  through  life,  otherwise  genius  will  lack 
the  support  it  should  have  from  morals.  Greece  we 
observed,  though  aesthetic,  though  the  repository  of 
the  arts  and  philosophies  and  poetry,  cared  little  for 
character  in  the  moral  and  spiritual  sense.  The  de- 
cline of  the  Roman  Empire  was  not  caused  from 


The  Question  of  Fitness 


47 


without  but  from  within.  The  spiritual  elements 
did  not  prevail  in  these  nations.  They  did  not  have 
"salt  within  themselves"  and  therefore  were  not  fit 
for  perpetual  service,  notwithstanding  their  other 
great  gifts.  On  Matthew  Arnold's  own  verdict, 
they  fell  through  lack  of  moral  character.  "Down 
they  come  one  after  another.  Assyria  falls,  Bab)  Ion, 
Greece,  Rome;  they  all  fall  for  want  of  conduct, 
righteousness.  Judea  itself,  the  holy  land,  the  land 
of  God's  Israel,  falls  too,  and  falls  for  want  of 
righteousness."  10  Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation, 
and  together  with  peculiar  Providential  gifts  makes 
it  fit  for  service.  Without  this  it  will  fail,  no  mat- 
ter what  genius  it  possesses. 

The  same  principle  applies  to  personal  life.  A 
man  may  have  poetic,  philosophical,  mechanical,  ar- 
tistic or  other  gifts  which  would  fit  him  for  peculiar 
and  great  service,  but  if  he  lacks  character,  these 
gifts  will  not  have  noble  and  dignified  scope  for 
service.  Would  not  Robert  Burns  have  rendered 
even  greater  and  more  prolonged  service  to  man- 
kind had  he  been  stronger  in  character  ?  Would  not 
Byron's  genius  have  been  spent  on  greater  and  purer 
themes  and  have  been  of  perpetual  service  to  men 
without  his  weakness  of  character  ?  A  few  years  ago 
the  passenger  S.  S.  Mohegan  foundered  off  the  Liz- 
ard Point.  It  was  found  that  the  water  had  reached 
the  chamber  containing  the  electric  dynamo  and  as  a 
sequence  the  light  on  the  mast  head  was  extinguished 
and  the  ill-fated  people  were  left  in  darkness  and 

10  Quoted  by  Bruce,  "Providential  Order,"  p.  183. 


48  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


confusion.  Something  like  that  has  occurred  in  the 
lives  of  many.  They  were  endowed  with  a  power  of 
genius  which  like  that  light  was  intended  to  guide 
many  travellers  across  the  ocean  of  life;  but  they 
foundered  against  the  points  of  evil  distributed 
around  life's  coast-line;  the  waters  of  temptation 
overpowered  them,  their  light  was  extinguished,  they 
became  moral  wrecks  and  failed  to  perform  their 
mission  in  life.  Nature  made  them  fit  but  they  un- 
fitted themselves  through  neglect  of  character.  The 
light  of  character  must  accompany  the  light  of 
genius  to  make  life  brilliant  in  service. 

The  same  principle  is  recognized  in  scripture. 
Jesus  told  the  Jews,  the  kingdom  of  God  would  be 
taken  from  them  and  given  to  a  nation  bringing 
forth  the  fruits  thereof.  In  other  words  to  a  people 
more  fit.  And  in  his  parables  of  the  last  judgment 
it  is  revealed  also.  The  sheep  found  their  place  on 
the  right  hand  of  the  judge  because  they  were  sheep; 
they  were  fit  for  that  place;  the  goats  were  on  the 
left  hand  because  they  were  goats ;  they  were  fit  only 
for  that  place.  The  tares  were  burned  because  they 
were  tares;  and  the  wheat  was  placed  in  the  barn 
because  it  was  wheat.  Their  positions  were  deter- 
mined by  their  fitness.  The  survival  of  the  fittest 
is  a  principle  of  grace  as  well  as  of  nature.  The 
one  difference  being,  it  is  the  power  of  grace  that 
makes  men  fit  to  survive.  Heaven  is  made  up  of 
those  who  have  survived  the  temptations,  the  dis- 
ciplines, the  evils  of  life,  because  by  the  forces  of  re- 
demptive grace  they  were  made  fit  to  survive.  Hell 
is  made  up  of  those  who  refused  to  receive  that 


The  Question  of  Fitness  49 


power  which  would  have  enabled  them  to  survive. 
In  heaven  as  on  earth,  a  Darwinian  wTill  discover 
this  great  principle  at  work.  And  if  fitness  is  the 
key  to  our  service  here,  it  will  be  the  key  to  our 
service  there. 


CHAPTER  III 


The  Appeals  of  Democracy 

And  they  said  unto  the  olive  tree,  "Reign  thou 
over  us."  And  the  trees  said  to  the  jig  tree,  "Come 
thou  and  reign  over  us."  Then  said  the  trees  unto 
the  vine,  "Come  thou  and  reign  over  us." 

EFORE  democracy  makes  her  appeal  for  serv- 
ice, she  makes  it  clear  that  she  presents  a  great 
opportunity  for  service. 

Society  is  necessary  for  the  development  and  man- 
ifestation of  personal  power  of  any  degree.  Alexan- 
der and  Caesar  were  great  as  warriors  and  states- 
men; Plato  and  Socrates  were  great  as  philosophers; 
Aristotle,  Archimedes,  Bacon  and  Newton  were 
great  as  mathematicians  and  scientists;  Dante,  Mil- 
ton and  Shakespeare  were  great  as  dramatists  and 
poets;  Drake,  Nelson,  Franklin,  were  great  as  com- 
manders and  heroes;  Livingstone,  Moffat,  Paton, 
were  great  as  missionaries;  and  many  others  have 
been  great  in  other  realms,  but  their  greatness  could 
not  have  revealed  itself  except  in  relation  to  society. 
Without  the  influence  and  sphere  of  society  they 
could  not  have  been  great. 

No  man  who  has  shone  in  history  as  a  great  per- 
sonage has  done  so  except  in  relation  to  some  noted 
50 


The  Appeals  of  Democracy  51 


historic  movement  which  has  had  its  sphere  of  oper- 
ations in  society.  So  we  are  able  to  associate  one 
with  the  other.  We  can  scarcely  think  of  the  Ox- 
ford Movement  without  thinking  at  the  same  time 
of  Newman  and  Pusey.  If  we  contemplate  the 
Evangelical  Revival  of  the  eighteenth  century,  John 
Wesley  comes  before  us.  If  we  speak  of  the  Lol- 
lards and  their  place  in  history,  Wycliffe  is  apparent. 
If  we  think  of  the  Reformation  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, Luther  immediately  appears  to  our  vision.  If 
we  glance  at  the  Arabian  outburst  of  a  certain  type 
of  religion  in  the  seventh  century,  Mohammed  can- 
not be  hidden  from  our  view.  If  we  think  of  old 
Stoicism,  Aurelius  is  there.  Great  men  hold  their 
greatness  in  relation  to  great  movements,  great  move- 
ments have  their  sphere  of  operations  in  society; 
without  society  there  could  have  been  no  great  move- 
ment; without  the  great  movement  the  great  man 
would  not  have  been  apparent.  Society  is  necessary 
to  give  opportunity  for  the  development  and  mani- 
festation of  greatness. 

This  is  true  of  all  individual  life.  There  can  be 
no  development  of  the  individual  personality  with- 
out society.  "Society  is  the  living  matrix  or  culture 
atmosphere  of  the  spiritual  life  of  man."  1  These 
powers  of  being,  the  will,  the  conscience,  the  reason, 
the  affections,  the  senses  would  not  have  the  oppor- 
tunity for  education  and  growth  and  acquirement 
of  strength,  except  in  relation  to  other  beings  pos- 
sessing the  same  power.  If  the  Lord  had  left  Adam 

^eighton,  "Christ  and  Civilization,"  p.  182. 


52  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


to  dwell  alone  in  the  Garden  of  Eden  with  the 
plants,  and  flowers,  and  trees  and  animals  as  com- 
panions, as  a  personal  being  he  would  never  have 
shown  many  signs  of  development.  His  surround- 
ings would  have  been  beautiful  and  he  might  have 
been  physically  and  aesthetically  very  comfortable, 
but  in  other  respects  his  personal  growth  would  have 
been  limited.  "It  is  not  good  for  the  man  to  be 
alone,"  said  the  Creator.  He  cannot  grow  alone. 
Growth  is  possible  only  in  contact,  communion  and 
fellowship  with  other  beings  of  kindred  nature  and 
constitution.  Man  needed  society  to  give  him  op- 
portunity for  the  development  of  his  powers  of  per- 
sonal life.  This  is  one  great  value  of  society  to  the 
individual.    It  develops  him. 

There  can  be  little  or  no  morality  except  as  it  ex- 
ists in  relation  to  other  personal  beings.  Our  right- 
eousness is  manifested  through  our  dealings  with 
our  fellow-man.  A  man  could  not  develop  his  moral 
power  outside  of  society.  Were  he  placed  on  a 
lonely  island  by  himself,  away  somewhere  in  the 
deep  blue  sea,  with  the  azure  heavens  pouring  their 
soft  light  over  him  by  day,  and  the  silvery  moon 
throwing  her  radiant  beams  around  him  by  night 
ever  so  graciously,  without  any  possibility  of  access 
to  any  other  personal  being,  it  is  clear  there  could 
be  no  moral  development  in  his  nature,  for  there 
would  be  no  object  on  which  to  spend  his  virtue. 
Character  cannot  arise  and  be  perpetuated  and  be- 
come strong  without  the  relations  to  other  personal 
beings  which  society  affords.  A  Robinson  Crusoe 
life  can  never  shine  very  brilliantly  in  the  sphere  of 


The  Appeals  of  Democracy  53 


morals.  It  is  too  isolated.  Virtue  develops  only  in 
contact  with  personality. 

Neither  can  genius  have  an  opportunity  for  ex- 
pression without  society.  It  may  for  certain  reasons 
be  born  and  nourished  in  obscurity  as  in  the  case  of 
most  great  personages,  but  when  it  is  matured  it 
needs  society  for  its  expression.  Great  poets  there 
have  been,  but  their  greatness  was  manifested  in  the 
thought-life  of  society;  great  reformers  there  have 
been,  but  it  was  in  and  on  society  their  grand  reform- 
ing power  was  felt;  great  philosophers  there  have 
been,  but  it  was  in  and  to  society  they  spake  and  in- 
fluenced, and  without  it  their  philosophy  would  have 
had  no  utility.  The  creations  of  art  and  architec- 
ture, of  music  and  song,  of  thought  and  religion,  of 
science  and  philosophy,  can  only  find  expression  in 
the  midst  of  the  atmosphere  of  social  relation.  So 
that  while  we  speak  of  the  value  of  the  individual  to 
society,  we  may  also  with  equal  force  speak  of  the 
value  of  society  to  the  individual.  It  gives  him  op- 
portunity for  development,  expression  and  serv- 
ice. 

Now  when  society  expresses  itself  under  a  form 
of  democracy,  is  it  not  apparent  that  this  form  pre- 
sents the  largest  and  best  opportunity  for  service? 
Great  men  and  noble  genius,  and  strong  talents  will 
appear  whenever  and  wherever  God  requires  them. 
But  the  tendency  of  society  is  toward  forms  of  de- 
mocracy. And  if  the  doctrine  of  equality  has  any 
force  at  all,  it  is  here :  Democracy  means  equal  op- 
portunity for  all,  especially  in  the  form  of  service. 
Wherever  there  is  fitness  of  any  peculiar  kind,  De- 


54  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


mos  opens  its  arms  wide,  offering  unparalleled  op- 
portunity for  the  expression  and  service  of  that  fit- 
ness. It  cries  in  the  language  of  the  trees  of  Joth- 
am's  parable,  "Here  is  an  opportunity  for  you  to 
serve;  a  throne  is  vacant  and  is  awaiting  a  worthy 
occupant;  Come  thou  and  reign  over  us."  There 
are  thrones  in  the  realms  of  art,  of  education,  of 
philosophy,  of  science,  of  mechanics,  of  general  lines 
of  industry  and  of  religion.  In  the  State,  in  the 
Church,  in  the  School,  in  the  Factory,  in  the  office, 
on  the  Farm,  there  are  thrones  to  be  filled  by  those 
who  are  fit  to  fill  them.  Democracy  offers  oppor- 
tunity for  such  before  she  makes  her  appeals.  And 
there  is  a  reasonableness  in  presenting  such  an  op- 
portunity seeing  that  the  individual  would  not  be  of 
much  value  without  society.  Democracy  has  right 
on  her  side  when  she  makes  her  appeals  for  service. 
This  will  be  her  compensation  for  the  influence  she 
spends  on  the  development  of  the  individual.  If  so- 
ciety is  so  valuable  to  the  growth  and  perfection  of 
the  individual,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  individual  to 
make  himself  as  valuable  as  he  can  to  society. 

Democracy  then,  appeals  for  the  best  service. 
Jotham  represents  the  trees  as  appealing  primarily 
for  the  service  of  the  best  trees;  the  olive  with  its 
fatness,  the  fig  with  its  sweetness,  and  the  vine  with 
its  cheer,  these  contained  the  best  elements  among  all 
the  trees,  elements  that  were  needed  by  society.  It 
was  not  the  worst,  but  the  best  service  the  Republic 
needed. 

The  story  of  the  yawning  chasm  and  its  closure 
in  the  early  days  of  Rome  is  very  illustrative  here. 


The  Appeals  of  Democracy  55 


It  was  a  time  of  great  pestilence  and  distress  in  the 
ancient  city.  The  Tiber  overflowed  its  banks,  the 
city  was  shaken  by  earthquake  and  a  yawning  chasm 
opened  in  the  forum.  The  story  goes  that  the  sooth- 
sayers declared  the  gulf  could  never  be  closed  except 
by  throwing  into  it  that  which  Rome  held  most  valu- 
able. A  noble  youth  named  M.  Curtius  came  for- 
ward and  declared  that  Rome  possessed  nothing  so 
valuable  as  her  brave  citizens.  He  then  mounted 
his  steed  and  leaped  into  the  abyss  in  full  armour, 
whereupon  the  earth  closed  over  him.  The  tale  has 
its  significance.  Democracy  has  nothing  so  valuable 
as  its  citizenship  and  continually  appeals  for  the  best 
service  it  can  render.  Politics  needs  the  best  char- 
acter and  the  ablest  talent;  otherwise  there  is  the 
possibility  of  knavish  trickery  and  corruption  in  the 
realm  of  government.  Industry  needs  the  best  that 
can  be  obtained  and  continually  calls  for  it.  So 
does  society  in  general  and  religion  in  particular; 
though  the  general  procedure  of  the  latter  is  to 
develop  the  best  in  the  personality  and  then  call  it 
into  its  service. 

The  greatest  among  the  sons  of  men  have  ever 
been  responsive  to  this  call.  They  realised  their 
powers  of  nature  were  given  them  not  merely  for 
self-aggression  and  self-satisfaction,  but  for  the  serv- 
ice of  mankind.  A  man  is  not  responsible,  nor  is 
there  any  praise  due  to  himself  for  the  possession  of 
great  talents.  These  have  come  to  him  freely  from 
the  great  Source  of  Life  and  Light  and  Power. 
Every  man  of  genius  and  forceful  powers  of  service 
is  but  a  brilliant  star  which  has  been  placed  in  the 


56 


The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


firmament  of  life  by  the  all-wise  Creator,  for  the 
purpose  of  shedding  its  twinkling  beams  forth  upon 
society.  He  is  not  the  creator  of  his  gifts  but  the 
steward  of  such.  The  gift  he  owes  to  God ;  its  serv- 
ice he  owes  to  mankind.  The  stars  do  not  shine  for 
their  own  light,  the  flowers  do  not  bloom  for  the 
satisfaction  of  their  own  sense,  and  the  birds  do  not 
sing  only  for  their  own  enjoyment;  they  are  dis- 
tinctive notes  in  the  great  chorus  of  all  and  peculiar 
lights  and  shades  in  the  beautiful  picture  of  crea- 
tion. They  possess  their  powers  for  the  service  of 
all  life.  So  with  the  great  man.  His  greatness  is 
for  the  service  of  others,  and  the  element  of  credit 
due  to  himself  is  not  for  the  possession  but  for  the 
cultivation  of  his  gift. 

Handel  recognized  this  principle.  After  render- 
ing on  the  great  organ  one  of  his  beautiful  master- 
pieces of  music,  the  whole  audience  arose,  waved 
their  handkerchiefs,  and  shouted  their  applause  into 
his  ears.  He  quietly  recognized  them  and  with  up- 
lifted hand  said,  "Not  to  myself  but  to  Him,  the 
Giver  of  every  good  gift  is  due  the  praise."  The 
best  he  had  from  God  he  gave  to  society.  When  Sir 
Humphry  Davy  invented  his  safety  lamp,  which 
protected  coal  miners  from  the  dangers  of  coal  gas  in 
the  mine,  he  was  advised  by  his  friends  to  secure 
himself  by  patenting  the  invention.  But  he  nobly 
replied,  "If  I  have  done  anything  of  service  to  men, 
I  am  amply  repaid  by  the  gratitude  accruing  from 
that  service."  He  gave  his  best.  So  did  Sir  James 
Simpson  when  he  bent  his  energies  to  discover  some 
medium  for  making  operations  less  painful,  when  he 


The  Appeals  of  Democracy  $7 


was  on  the  verge  of  abandoning  the  medical  profes- 
sion because  of  the  distress  he  saw  in  one  of  his  pa- 
tients. The  result  was  the  discovery  of  chloroform, 
and  what  was  greater,  he  set  in  motion  a  long  series 
of  efforts  for  making  surgery  painless. 

Froude  gives  us  an  instance  from  the  life  of  John 
Knox,  which  amplifies  the  same  idea.  It  is  the 
story  of  a  slave  in  a  French  galley  who  was  one 
morning  bending  wearily  over  his  oar.  The  day 
was  breaking  and  rising  out  of  the  gray  waters,  a  line 
of  cliffs  was  visible,  the  white  houses  and  a  church 
tower.  The  rower  was  a  man  unused  to  such  serv- 
ice, worn  with  the  toil  and  watching,  and  likely  it 
was  thought  to  die.  A  companion  touched  him, 
pointed  to  the  shore  and  asked  him  if  he  knew  it. 
"Yes,"  he  answered,  "I  know  it  well.  I  see  the 
steeple  of  the  place  where  God  opened  my  mouth  in 
public  to  his  glory,  and  I  know  how  weak  soever  I 
now  appear,  I  shall  not  depart  out  of  this  life  till  my 
tongue  glorify  his  name  in  the  same  place."  The 
name  of  the  place  was  St.  Andrews.  Knox  did 
come  back  and  beginning  once  more  perpetuated  his 
glorious  service  to  Scotland  and  the  world.  These 
men  gave  the  best  they  had  and  this  is  what  democ- 
racy appeals  for  in  order  to  support  its  own  fabric 
and  continue  to  propagate  its  own  service.  Without 
the  best  service  of  its  citizens  it  must  inevitably  fail. 
The  salvation  of  society  can  be  attained  only  by 
giving  the  best  we  have. 

It  is  therefore  on  the  basis  of  need  democracy 
makes  its  appeal.  The  great  mass  of  human  so- 
ciety would  either  deteriorate  or  stand  still  with- 


58  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


out  the  interjection  into  it  of  the  power  of  special 
men.  There  is  no  evolution  without  involution. 
Unless  power  is  continually  involved  no  progress 
is  evolved.  The  history  of  mankind  gives  no  evi- 
dence of  humanity  either  in  racial  or  national  life 
advancing  by  internal  impulsion  alone.  It  has  al- 
ways been  through  the  infusion  of  power  from  with- 
out. "No  community  has  developed  itself  by  in- 
ternal force  from  a  state  of  Fetishism  to  one  of 
civilization;  no  community  has  of  itself  developed 
from  Polytheism  to  Monotheism;  .  .  .  changes  in 
religion  have  often  been  effected,  but  always  by 
teaching  or  force — the  force  being  in  the  nature  of  it, 
an  agency  from  without."  2  Dr.  Orr  in  his  "Chris- 
tian View  of  God  and  the  World,"  3  notices  the 
same  thing;  that  only  those  nations  are  Monotheistic 
that  have  come  under  the  influence  of  Biblical  teach- 
ing which  was  the  power  infused  into  them.  There 
is  no  natural  evolution  in  history.  A  power  must 
come  into  a  nation's  life  or  must  be  infused  by  spe- 
cial means  which  appear  frequently  when  some  cru- 
cial stage  in  its  history  has  arrived.  Educative  and 
religious  force  must  be  put  into  it  and  that  means 
the  service  of  strong  personality. 

The  various  epochs  of  progress,  and  the  flowing 
streams  of  life  which  have  come  from  those  epochs 
have  generally  been  initiated  by  a  few  great  creative 
personalities.  They  have  caused  an  involution  of 
power,  intellectual,  religious  and  social,  which  has 

2  Arthur's  "God  without  Religion,"  p.  265. 

3  P.  75. 


The  Appeals  of  Democracy  59 


been  the  starting  point  of  processes  of  racial  evolu- 
tion. Great  historic  personages  have  in  them- 
selves the  forcej  of  historic  causes;  great  movements 
have  their  genius  in  the  special  personal  agents  who 
have  appeared  here  and  there  in  the  Providential  or- 
der. Without  their  power  infused  into  society,  with- 
out their  thought  and  action,  without  their  expres- 
sion of  personal  contents,  without  their  ideas  and 
ideals,  little  or  no  advance  would  have  been  made. 
They  have  sent  their  stream  of  influence  trickling 
and  flowing  down  through  history,  determin- 
ing the  channels  of  action  of  countless  numbers  of 
men,  moulding  their  thought  and  shapening  their 
ideas ;  all  of  which  means  that  society  advances  only 
by  means  of  these  great  historical  personal  causes. 

We  have  only  to  think  of  their  influence  in  various 
realms.  Think  of  the  difference  and  the  direction 
caused  in  political  states  by  the  activities  of  men 
like  Alexander,  Caesar,  Charlemagne,  Napoleon, 
Wellington,  Washington,  and  others!  How  much 
poorer  would  art  have  been  without  Michael  Angelo, 
Raphael,  Rubens,  and  Turner,  and  men  like  them! 
In  philosophy  we  see  the  impression  of  Plato,  Soc- 
rates, Bacon,  Kant  and  others!  Where  would  our 
modern  liberties  and  civilized  powers  have  been 
without  the  efforts  of  Cromwell,  Luther  and  the  Re- 
formers, our  Puritan  forefathers,  Wesley  and  oth- 
ers? These  men  set  in  motion  ideas,  thoughts,  ac- 
tions, forces,  movements  which  have  made  it  possi- 
ble for  modern  society  to  be  evolved  and  modern 
civilization  to  progress.  We  need  creative  person- 
alities to  initiate  and  give  impulse  to  progress  of  all 


6o  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


kinds. 

God  works  primarily  in  His  influence  and  action 
on  society,  through  the  individual  personality;  it  is 
through  him,  the  thought  and  power  of  the  Almighty 
spread  to  the  multitude.  He  does  not  speak  to 
the  multitude  and  then  to  the  individual.  That 
would  be  a  reversal  of  the  natural  order,  and  would 
be  the  way  to  confusion  and  madness.  We  see  it  es- 
specially  in  the  history  of  the  church,  and  this  is  but 
an  expression  of  the  same  principles  of  evolutionary 
progress  at  work  in  the  other  spheres  of  society.  Il- 
lustrations are  abundant.  Bishop  Taylor  pioneered 
the  gospel  in  California;  while  there  he  heard  the 
call  of  India;  then  that  call  became  louder  and 
was  heard  by  others,  until  a  great  mission  field  was 
opened  in  that  land.  Since  that  time  thousands  of 
individuals  have  been  gathered  into  the  church 
through  the  thought  expressed  by  the  Supreme 
Thinker  by  means  of  the  personality  of  Taylor. 
Carey  also  conceived  and  was  inspired  by  the 
thought  of  India,  and  though  sneered  at  by  many 
of  his  contemporaries,  yet  ultimately  his  mission- 
ary contagion  reached  the  multitude.  The  Spirit 
of  God  spoke  to  Livingstone  concerning  Africa,  and 
subsequently  the  world  received  the  same  expres- 
sion and  impression.  J.  G.  Paton  was  moved  by 
the  thought  of  New  Hebrides,  and  through  him 
the  church  was  moved  toward  that  quarter.  The 
same  with  Calvert  of  Fiji,  Moffat  and  other 
great  pioneers  of  God's  all-inspiring,  all-permeat- 
ing thoughts.  So  God  speaks  and  works  through 
the  individual  personality;  He  sends  his  inspiring 


The  Appeals  of  Democracy  61 


power  throbbing  and  thrilling  through  his  spirit 
and  brain  and  conscience  until  it  reaches  the  multi- 
tude, and  then  progress  is  possible.  This  is  the 
way  force  is  put  into  the  mass,  and  without  it  the 
mass  would  not  move. 

Dr.  Josiah  Strong  has  spoken  of  the  value  of  one 
great  personality  to  the  world.  "One  Plato,  or 
Shakespeare,  or  Livingstone,  or  Lincoln  would  have 
been  well  purchased  with  all  the  lives  of  the  Rep- 
tilian Age  had  that  been  the  price."  4  And  Dr. 
Bruce  has  spoken  of  the  value  of  one  Paul  to  the 
world.  Speaking  of  his  conversion  he  says,  "This 
case  shows  what  a  gain  it  may  be  to  the  highest 
interests  of  humanity  to  win,  at  however  great  a 
cost,  a  single  man.  ...  It  was  due  to  his 
almost  unaided  efforts  that  his  grand  conception 
of  the  new  religion  found  practical  enlargement 
in  the  creation  of  a  Gentile  church.  To  gain  him 
was  to  conquer  the  world."  5  Society  cannot  ad- 
vance then  without  its  lone  great  men.  If  there  had 
been  no  Plato,  no  Shakespeare,  no  Paul,  our  life 
would  not  have  reached  its  present  high  privileged 
condition  and  would  have  been  poor  indeed. 

What  a  heavy  debt,  therefore,  the  world  owes 
its  great  personages!  Its  thought,  its  knowledge, 
its  channels  of  industry,  its  religious  conception 
and  practices,  its  liberties,  its  wealth,  its  love  of 
beauty,  its  pleasures,  and  much  else,  are  greatly  due 
to  the  birth  of  these  in  the  minds  of  a  few  in- 
dividuals who  have  injected  their  strength  into  the 

*"The  New  World  Religion,"  p.  37. 
6  "Providential  Order,"  p.  363. 


62  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


streams  of  life  and  history.  "It  is  chiefly  through 
the  influence  of  great  personalities  that  existing 
scientific  theories,  and  political,  social,  aesthetic,  and 
moral  ideals  are  originated,  enforced  and  trans- 
formed, that  new  ones  arise  and  become  efficient 
factors  in  the  life  of  culture."  6  A  certain  writer 
has  given  a  list  of  great  Christian  scientists  and  their 
work  to  refute  the  idea  that  science  is  always  on  the 
side  of  unbelief.  We  will  mention  them  here  to 
show  their  service  to  mankind.  "Copernicus 
founded  our  modern  world  system."7  Kepler  and 
Newton  discovered  laws  which  form  the  basis 
of  modern  astronomy.  Linnaeus  is  considered  the 
creator  of  natural  history  as  a  science.  Cuvier  was 
the  founder  of  palaeontology,  and  was  considered 
the  greatest  zoologist  of  two  centuries.  Herschel 
was  great  in  the  science  of  astronomy.  Lavoisier 
laid  the  foundation  of  modern  chemistry.  Then 
there  is  the  great  work  of  Haller,  Brewster, 
Agassiz,  Pasteur,  not  to  mention  those  of  more 
recent  times,  who  have  made  life  rich,  noble  and 
powerful  and  comfortable  by  their  thought  and 
action.  The  same  can  be  said  of  initiators  in  other 
spheres. 

"A  nation  that  has  no  great  men,"  says  Bruce, 
"has  no  destiny.  A  nation  that  has  a  destiny  will 
never  want  great  men."  The  destiny  of  a  race,  as 
well  as  a  nation,  seems  to  lie  in  the  brains  and 
heart  and  hands  of  its  great  men.  They  steer  the 
course  of  life  through  the  mazes  of  time.  They 

"Leighton,  "Jesus  Christ  and  Civilization,"  p.  182. 
'Bettex's  "Science  and  Christianity,"  p.  246. 


The  Appeals  of  Democracy  63 


straighten  the  windings  and  unravel  the  entangle- 
ments of  history  and  supply  the  energies  which 
enable  a  people  to  fulfil  their  mission.  No  form 
of  society  needs  them  more  than  does  democracy, 
for  they  are  the  directors  of  its  thought  and  the 
impellers  of  its  movements.  With  the  disappear- 
ance from  our  life  of  great  characters  there  would 
be  the  disappearance  of  progress.  No  great  poets 
to  sing  our  songs  to  give  us  inspiration;  no  great 
saints  to  shine  with  characters  that  draw  us  toward 
goodness;  no  great  men  of  initiative  to  lead  us  over 
the  mountains  and  crags  of  history;  only  stagnation 
would  overtake  us. 

Hence  the  appeals  of  democracy  for  the  best  ser- 
viceMts  citizens  can  give.  It  needs  the  best  per- 
sonality, the  best  creative  thought,  the  best  inspir- 
ing force,  the  best  initiative  that  can  be  put  into 
it.  Democracy  is  the  mass  into  which  the  above 
elements  must  be  put  as  a  leaven.  If  they  are  not 
involuted  into  its  very  vitals  and  fibres  of  organic 
being  this  will  only  give  opportunity  for  the  leaven 
of  corruption  to  be  put  into  it  and  operate  for  its 
own  diabolical  purposes,  and  instead  of  the  evolu- 
tion of  society  and  the  progress  of  pure,  religious, 
God-like  civilization,  degeneration,  quick  and 
strong  will  be  manifested. 

A  most  pertinent  remark  was  made  some  time 
since  by  the  New  York  superintendent  of  banks. 
He  said,  speaking  of  law  enforcement:  "To  enforce 
the  hundreds  of  miles  of  statutes  now  written  on 
the  books  it  would  require  a  hundred  attorney- 
generals,  a  thousand  district-attorneys,  a  million 


64 


The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


policemen  and  at  least  a  billion  dollars.  Never 
before  in  our  history,  in  the  turmoil  between  social- 
ism and  frenzied  finance,  has  there  been  a  louder 
call  for  real  men  in  public  life,  men  who  will  not 
act  from  expediency,  but  from  conviction,  unmoved 
by  passing  clamor  of  personal  ambition.  What  we 
need  is  men,  not  measures." 

The  appeals,  then,  of  democracy  are  not  to  the 
great  and  the  special  alone,  much  as  they  are 
needed.  They  are  to  men;  for  important  as 
measures  are,  men  are  vastly  more  so.  If  there  are 
no  men  behind  the  measures,  both  for  their  crea- 
tion and  enforcement,  they  will  be  impotent  for 
the  sustenance  and  perpetuation  of  society  on  the 
basis  of  democracy.  To  the  rank  and  file  of  men 
she  makes  her  appeals;  for  the  great  personalities 
are  for  the  creation  of  movements  and  influences. 
The  movements  themselves  operate  on  the  minds 
and  mould  the  thoughts  and  arouse  the  energies 
of  the  multitude  and  make  it  possible  for  them  to 
respond  to  the  great,  pressing  calls  for  manly,  noble, 
Christian  service. 


CHAPTER  IV 


The  Refusals  of  Service 


The  olive  tree  said,  "Should  I  leave  my  fatness, 
and  go  to  be  promoted  over  the  trees?" 

The  jig  tree  said,  "Should  I  forsake  my  sweet- 


The  vine  said,  "Should  I  leave  my  wine,  which 
cheer eth  God  and  man?" 


HERE  are  two  kinds  of  refusals  which  may  be 


considered :  ( I )  The  refusal  of  an  inferior 
service  for  what  is  considered  a  superior  one.  This 
is  the  kind  which  characterizes  the  attitude  of  the 
trees  here.  The  service  they  rendered  by  nature 
was  considered  more  important  than  that  to  which 
they  were  invited,  which  was  a  political  service. 
There  certainly  seemed  a  great  deal  of  reason  in 
their  point  of  view.  They  had  better  be  success- 
ful in  dispensing  the  gifts  of  nature  than  be  a  failure 
in  dispensing  power  from  a  throne  which  was  the 
proffered  gift  of  man.  Any  one  of  them,  however, 
would  have  been  more  glorious  on  the  throne  than 
the  one  who  was  eventually  chosen.  But  they  con- 
sidered their  natural  position  superior  to  political 
preferment  and  chose  to  remain  in  it. 

Much  blessing  often  accrues  to  life  through  men 


nessf 


66  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


adopting  in  certain  circumstances  the  same  attitude. 
There  are  men  who  by  reason  of  the  lavishment 
of  nature's  gifts  upon  themselves  might  thereby 
become  personally  enriched,  but  at  a  certain  crisis 
in  their  lives  they  must  choose  between  two  kinds 
of  service — that  which  would  enrich  themselves,  cr 
that  which  would  chiefly  enrich  others  from  a 
materialistic  and  spiritual  standpoint.  In  many 
cases  noble  souls  have  chosen  the  latter.  To  enrich 
others  has  been  considered  the  greater  service,  and 
they  have  made  the  grand  renunciation  that  this 
purpose  might  be  accomplished. 

The  apostle  Paul  stands  out  pre-eminently  among 
men  as  belonging  to  this  class.  He  was  not  un- 
conscious of  his  native  powers,  nor  was  he  unmind- 
ful of  his  privileges,  nor  did  he  ignore  his  train- 
ing and  the  power  it  gave  him.  He  had  received 
a  good  inheritance,  "for  he  was  of  the  stock  of 
Israel,  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  a  Hebrew  of  the 
Hebrews;  as  touching  the  law  a  Pharisee."  He 
was  the  rising  hope  of  the  Pharisaic  party,  and  one 
thing  which  aroused  their  antagonism  toward  him 
was  they  had  their  hopes  dashed  to  pieces  through 
Paul  becoming  a  follower  of  the  Nazarene.  Politi- 
cally he  had  great  privileges,  for  he  was  a  free-born 
Roman  citizen,  a  fact  which  stirred  his  nature  on 
more  than  one  occasion.  Brought  up  at  the  feet  of 
Gamaliel,  he  was  acquainted  with  the  various 
schools  of  thought.  All  this  gave  him  power  and 
prospect.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Paul  would 
have  become  great  and  influential  in  any  sphere  he 
might  have  chosen  for  his  service.    If  the  world 


The  Refusals  of  Service  67 


had  not  heard  of  him  as  the  Christian  apostle  it 
would  have  heard  of  him  as  the  apostle  of  another 
system  of  thought  and  action.  Sabatier  is  quoted  by 
Professor  Piatt  as  saying:  "Paul  as  a  thinker  ranks 
with  Plato  and  Aristotle,  Augustine  and  Kant  as 
one  of  the  mightiest  intellectual  forces  of  the 
world."  1  This  same  intellectual  force  would  have 
been  seen  championing  some  other  cause,  and  may 
have  influenced  the  world's  thought  accordingly, 
even  though  he  had  not  been  the  Christian  apostle 
to  the  Gentiles.  But  in  whatever  sphere  he  might 
otherwise  have  chosen  to  serve,  he  regarded  it  as 
inferior  to  his  great  service  for  Christ  and  the 
world.  Listen  to  him:  "What  things  were  gain 
to  me,  those  I  counted  loss  for  Christ.  Yea,  doubt- 
less, and  I  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excel- 
lency of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord."2 
Here  is  Paul's  grand  renunciation!  It  was  the 
refusing  of  an  inferior  kind  of  service  for  a  greater 
one.  To  have  become  the  champion  or  leader  of 
the  Pharisaic  party,  or  to  have  given  the  world  a 
great  philosophical  system  of  thought,  or  to  have 
been  a  great  dramatic  figure  on  the  stage  of  the 
world's  history,  or  to  have  entered  upon  any  other 
world  prospect  which  would  have  been  gain  to  him- 
self; this  he  counted  less  compared  with  the 
"excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ,"  which  he 
sent  thrilling  through  the  channels  of  the  thought 
of  subsequent  ages.  Nor  was  there  any  service  so 
great  as  that  which  he  rendered  in  establishing  and 

1  "Immanence  and  Christian  Thought,"  p.  290. 

2  Philippians,  3:7-8. 


68  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


perpetuating  the  Christian  church,  capturing  the 
currents  of  history  at  the  world's  centre  of  life  (the 
city  of  Rome),  and  thereby  making  them  subserve 
the  interests  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  He  sacri- 
ficed worldly  prospects  and  personal  ambition  for 
the  service  of  Christ,  thereby  making  life  and 
history  richer  than  it  otherwise  would  have  been. 
And  of  his  fulness  have  we  moderns  all  received. 

This  same  principle  is  well  illustrated  in  the  life 
and  work  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  who,  accord- 
ing to  competent  critics,  might  have  become  a 
greater  poet/  but  for  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
anti-slavery.  He  sacrificed,  to  a  large  extent,  that 
beautiful  gift  in  order  to  advocate  freedom  for  the 
slave;  and  while  the  world  needs  its  great  and  sweet 
poets  to  enable  it  to  trudge  along  inspiringly  over 
the  weary  way  of  life,  yet  no  doubt  Whittier 
rendered  a  greater  service  to  humanity  by  adopting 
the  course  he  did.  His  biographer  and  critic  must 
guide  us  here.  "Had  he  lived  in  a  time  when  there 
were  no  oppressed  to  be  set  free,  no  wrong  to  be 
redressed,  no  evils  to  be  overthrown,  he  might  have 
sung  hymns  of  pure  beauty  and  joy,  for  no  poet 
evinces  a  keener  sense  of  the  divine  in  man,  or  a 
more  ecstatic  pleasure  in  the  divine  manifestation 
in  nature."  3 

He  had  ambitions  for  the  future.  "His  verses 
had  gained  favor  early.  He  already  had  a  name, 
and  a  career  was  predicted  for  him."  The  crisis 
came.  The  call  for  service  in  another  direction 
was  heard.    He  must  choose  for  himself  whether  he 

8  Linton's  "Life  of  Whittier." 


The  Refusals  of  Service 


69 


will  enter  a  service  which  will  bring  him  a  greater 
name  as  a  poet,  and  much  personal  enrichment, 
or  will  he  enter  another  line  of  service  which  will 
mean  a  sacrifice  for  himself,  but  enrichment  and 
freedom  to  the  oppressed  and  enslaved?  He  decided 
for  the  latter.  The  sacrifice  must  be  made.  The 
slave  must  be  free.  "He  now  doomed  himself  to 
years  of  retardation  and  disfavor."  "It  was  suffi- 
cient to  be  an  Abolitionist  to  put  him  outside  the 
pale  of  literary  sympathy."  This  is  his  own  con- 
fession: "For  twenty  years  my  name  would  have 
injured  the  circulation  of  any  of  the  literary  or 
political  journals  in  the  country." 

"Then  to  side  with  Truth  is  noble  when  we  share 
her  wretched  crust, — 

Ere  her  cause  bring  fame  and  profit  and  'tis  pros- 
perous to  be  just; 

Then  it  is  the  brave  man  chooses,  while  the  cow- 
ard stands  aside, 

Doubting  in  his  abject  spirit,  till  his  Lord  is 
crucified, 

And  the  multitude  make  virtue  of  the  faith  they 
had  denied."4 

Another  instance  is  found  in  the  life  of  a  famous 
modern  preacher  and  social  worker.  The  early 
ambition  of  Hugh  Price  Hughes,  who  did  so  much 
for  the  city  of  London  and  in  arousing  the  English 
churches  to  a  sense  of  their  social  and  spiritual 
duties,  was  to  become  a  great  preacher.    He  had 

4  Lowell's  "Crisis." 


70 


The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


talents  and  education,  which  fitted  him  for  the 
attainment  of  this  purpose.  He  sacrificed  this  ambi- 
tion that  he  might  become  not  merely  a  pulpit 
orator,  but  that  he  might  have  a  larger  ministry  as 
a  social  worker.  And  doubtless  he  rendered  greater 
service  through  this  noble  choice. 

Here,  then,  is  the  personal  meaning  of  the  law 
of  sacrifice.  These  men  renounced  personal  ambi- 
tion and  the  prospect  of  personal  enrichment  that 
they  might  render  a  greater  service  to  humanity. 
That  service  was  accomplished.  The  law  of  sacri- 
fice always  accompanies  the  law  of  service;  in  fact, 
one  involves  the  other.  No  one  has  entered  upon  a 
course  of  thought  and  effort  whereby  humanity  has 
been  enriched  without  making  sacrifice  somewhere 
and  at  some  point.  This  is  not  only  the  teaching  of 
nature  and  experience;  it  is  the  very  essence  of  the 
principles  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  " Jesus'  gospel  is 
one  of  redemption  through  vicarious  suffering  and 
social  service."  5 

It  is  an  universal  principle  and  is  not  without  its 
significance  in  nature.  After  we  have  enjoyed  the 
glory  of  the  summer  time,  having  feasted  our  eyes 
upon  the  gorgeous  display  of  color  in  landscape 
and  setting  sun,  and  satiated  our  appetites  with  the 
luscious  fruit  and  berries;  when  we  behold  the 
approach  of  autumn,  and  the  leaves  begin  to  fall 
and  die  at  our  feet,  we  begin  to  pine  and  murmur, 
and  sing  about  "the  last  rose  of  summer,"  or  quote 
the  prophet's  words,  "We  all  do  fade  as  a  leaf." 
We  forget  the  law  of  sacrifice  that  is  thus  mani- 
B  "Christianity  and  Civilization,"  p.  zu. 


The  Refusals  of  Service 


71 


fested.  As  one  naturalist  expresses  it,  "The  leaves 
fade  and  fall  only  to  rise  again.  All  this  golden 
shower  of  the  woods  is  making  the  ground  richer, 
and  in  the  juice  and  sap,  and  life  of  the  trees,  the 
leaves  will  come  up  again.''  The  law  of  sacrifice  is 
ever  in  force.  Were  there  no  autumn  and  the 
leaves  did  not  fall  there  would  be  no  more  spring 
and  summer  service  for  the  world.  Sacrifice  is  in- 
volved in  service. 

Not  only  in  religion  is  this  revealed,  but  also  in 
science  and  other  spheres.  The  benefits  accruing 
to  humanity  through  modern  science  have  come  only 
through  the  sacrifice,  heroism  and  service  of  its 
agents  in  the  past.  Two  surgeons  lost  their  lives 
that  the  world  might  know  more  of  the  yellow  and 
spotted  fevers.  Only  recently  Miss  Marion  C. 
Mabie  sacrificed  her  young  life  to  science  and  serv- 
ice through  contracting  diphtheria  while  making 
experiments  for  finding  a  preventive  serum.  All 
through  the  ages  the  principle  has  been  operating. 
Whittier  voices  it  when  he  says : 

"Wherever  through  the  ages  rise 
The  altars  of  self-sacrifice, 
Where  love  its  arms  has  opened  wide 
Or  man  for  man  has  calmly  died, 
I  see  the  same  white  wings  outspread 
That  hovered  o'er  the  Master's  head! 
Up  from  undated  time  they  come, 
The  martyr  souls  of  heathendom, 
And  to  His  cross  and  passion  bring 
Their  fellowship  of  suffering. 


72  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


I  trace  their  presence  in  the  blind 
Pathetic  gropings  of  my  kind, — 
In  prayers  from  sin  and  sorrow  wrung 
In  cradle  hymns  of  life  they  sung; 
Each  in  its  measure  but  a  part 
Of  the  unmeasured  Over-Heart; 
And  with  a  stronger  faith  confess 
The  greater  that  it  owns  the  less."  6 

There  will,  however,  be  great  compensation  for 
the  sacrifice  made  and  the  service  dispensed.  It 
will  come  chiefly  in  the  form  of  enlarged  person- 
ality. There  will  be  an  expansion  of  the  powers 
and  capacities  of  being.  The  power  of  love  will 
become  greater,  for  it  is  capable  of  infinite  stretches 
of  being,  but  can  only  grow  by  exercise.  This  being 
"the  greatest  thing  in  the  world,"  to  have  an  in- 
crease of  its  force  must  be  considered  one  of  the 
greatest  elements  in  the  law  of  compensation  for 
service.  The  same  can  be  said  of  the  other  per- 
sonal elements.  The  volitional  capacity,  the  moral 
and  spiritual  capacity,  the  conscience,  the  talents 
of  our  nature,  will  all  become  greater  factors  and 
larger  parts  of  an  ever-expanding  and  ever-develop- 
ing personality.  And  that  is  our  purpose  in  this 
world,  to  develop  a  personality  which  shall  be  akin 
to  God's  own  personal  being.  The  exercise  of  these 
powers  will  make  the  one  who  puts  them  into  noble 
service  for  others  more  fit  for  yet  higher  service; 
for  the  compensation  of  service  is  more  capacity  for 
more  service,  just  as  the  reward  of  virtue  is  virtue. 

6  "Miriam." 


The  Refusals  of  Service  73 


Jesus  Christ  recognized  this  principle  of  compensa- 
tion when  He  answered  his  disciples  thus:  "Ye 
which  have  followed  me,  in  the  regeneration,  when 
the  Son  of  Man  shall  sit  in  the  throne  of  his  glory, 
ye  also  shall  sit  upon  twelve  thrones,  judging  the 
twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  And  every  one  that  hath 
forsaken  houses  or  brethren  or  sisters  or  father  or 
mother  or  wife  or  children  or  lands  for  my  name's 
sake  shall  receive  a  hundredfold  and  shall  inherit 
everlasting  life." 

(2)  There  is  another  kind  of  refusal  which  does 
not  represent  a  grand  renunciation,  but  the  opposite. 
It  is  the  refusal  of  service  for  which  one  is  fitted 
by  nature,  and  which  might  have  resulted  in  great 
benefit  to  the  community.  In  nature  as  soon  as  an 
organism  appears  to  be  no  longer  useful  to  the 
species  it  becomes  greatly  modified  in  its  constitu- 
tion, thereby  suffering  depreciation  and  weakness, 
or  else  it  is  liable  to  extinction  altogether.  The 
law  of  degeneration  follows  the  end  of  service, 
and  even  the  refusal  of  service.  If  no  more  serv- 
ice can  be  rendered  or  if  there  is  a  lack  of  inten- 
tion to  fulfil  any  more  service,  or  a  stubborn  re- 
fusal to  enter  upon  a  service  which  might  be 
rendered  for  altruistic  benefit,  decline  ensues  and 
extinction  becomes  a  fact.  This  is  only  in  accord- 
ance with  the  idea  that  the  end  of  all  existence  is 
service.  When  any  organism  or  power  of  nature 
has  that  tendency  no  longer  it  ceases  to  be. 

Contrast  this  law  with  the  law  of  compensation, 
previously  observed.  As  a  compensation  for  service 
there  comes  expansion,  development,  enlargement  of 


74  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


personal  being  and  capacity;  as  a  sequence  of  refusal 
of  service  for  which  one  is  fitted  there  comes  con- 
traction and  decline  of  personal  capacities,  the  stunt- 
ing of  personality,  and  ultimate  extinction  of  those 
neglected  and  unused  functions  which  might  have 
meant  so  much  had  they  been  exercised  and  utilized 
for  the  greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number. 

This  same  principle  applies  to  nations  and  races 
as  to  individuals.  It  was  applied  severely  to  those 
ancient  nations  whom  we  noticed  had  a  specific 
service  to  render.  As  long  as  they  were  true  to 
their  mission  they  prospered.  When  they  turned 
aside  from  it  they  became  subject  to  the  law  of 
degeneration.  Their  prosperity  became  the  occa- 
sion of  their  perversity.  When  the  Jews  became 
super-conscious  of  their  distinct  mission  they  over- 
emphasized their  privileges  as  a  people,  "made  the 
God-given  law  a  Fetich  and  their  religion  proved 
their  ruin."  7  They  became  inaccessible  to  new  ideas 
and  incapable  of  adapting  themselves  to  unwelcome 
situations.  They  held  on  desperately  to  an  ancient 
faith  when  it  had  become  worn  out,  and  they 
cherished  the  dream  of  a  Messianic  kingdom  of  a 
political  type  when  stern  facts  made  it  impossible. 
The  result  was  a  collision  with  Rome,  which  de- 
molished their  temple  and  put  an  end  to  their 
national  existence,  and,  we  might  add,  to  their 
racial  function  for  service.  The  great  complaint  of 
Jesus  against  them  was,  "Ye  will  not  come  to  me 
that  ye  might  have  life."  Their  refusal  proved 
their  ruin,  and  also  showed  they  had  lost  their 

'Bruce,  302. 


The  Refusals  of  Service 


75 


capacity  for  further  service.  They  neglected  their 
true  mission  and  lost  it. 

Mr.  Kidd,  in  his  "Social  Evolution,"  observes 
the  same  principle  at  work  in  the  history  of  modern 
nations.  He  shows  that  modern  progress  of  the 
best  kind  received  its  greatest  impulse  by  the  Ref- 
ormation movement  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
Those  nations  which  accepted  the  principles  em- 
bodied in  that  movement  have  been  in  the  ascend- 
ing scale  ever  since;  while  those  which  refused  to 
accept  them  have  been  gradually  on  the  down  grade. 
Moreover,  the  nations  which  fell  into  line  with  that 
epoch-making  period  have  rendered  more  altruistic 
service  and  are  still  rendering  it  than  those  who  did 
not,  because  they  accepted  and  endorsed  principles 
and  received  elements  into  their  life  which  made 
them  fit  and  capable  for  that  service.  "The  fact 
must  be  kept  in  view,"  he  says,  "that  it  is  this 
softening  and  deepening  of  character  with  the  ac- 
companying release  in  our  social  life  of  an  immense 
and  all-pervading  fund  of  altruistic  feeling,  which 
has  provided  the  real  motive  force  behind  the  whole 
onward  movement  with  which  our  age  is  identi- 
fied."8 It  may  be  noticed  how  much  farther  the 
development  of  the  humanitarian  feelings  has  pro- 
gressed in  those  parts  of  our  civilization  most 
affected  by  the  movement  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
and  more  particularly  amongst  the  Anglo-Saxon 
people."  "But,"  he  says  further  on,  "when  we 
turn  to  those  peoples  amongst  whom  the  religious 
movement  of  the  sixteenth  century  was  interrupted 

"Kidd's  "Social  Evolution,"  p.  320. 


76 


The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


or  suppressed  and  amongst  whom  the  Latin  form  of 
Christianity  prevails,  we  find  the  situation  is  not 
exactly  the  same."9  This  illustrates  the  result  of 
refusal  of  service. 

The  movement  referred  to  was  the  supreme 
historic  opportunity  Providence  gave  the  nations  to 
enable  them  to  become  fit  and  to  receive  capacity 
for  the  service  of  life  in  the  modern  world.  Those 
which  neglected  and  even  refused  that  opportunity 
have  well-nigh  lost  what  function  for  service  they 
had,  and  now  have  to  follow  even  afar  off  in  the 
wake  of  those  nations  who  seized  their  golden 
chance  and  profited  thereby. 

Is  it  not  similar  in  individual  life?  Dr.  Bruce 
notes  a  pertinent  instance  of  this  in  the  case  of  the 
rich  young  man  in  the  gospel:  "How  often,"  he 
says,  "does  it  happen  in  individual  history  that  men 
turn  aside  from  the  path  into  which  their  endow- 
ments would  lead  them,  sometimes  with  disastrous 
effects  to  character,  always  with  loss  to  the  service 
which  it  was  in  them  to  render!  The  young  man 
was  a  type  of  this  class.  He  had  nobleness  enough 
to  be  dissatisfied  with  Pharisaism.  Had  he  followed 
the  behests  of  what  was  best  in  him,  at  the  bidding 
of  Jesus,  he  might  have  become  an  apostle  of  the 
Christian  faith,  a  substitute  for  Judas,  a  companion 
to  St.  Paul."  10 

This  young  man  was  seeking  the  larger  life,  but 
he  overlooked  the  fact  that  it  could  be  realized  only 
through  service.    He  had  power  in  personal  being 

BP.  323. 

10Bruce's  "Providential  Order,"  p.  302. 


The  Refusals  of  Service 


77 


and  estate  which  made  it  possible  for  him  to  render 
wonderful  service  to  the  community  life.  But  he  re- 
fused and  that  very  refusal  meant  the  impoverish- 
ment of  personality  to  himself,  social  loss  to  others, 
and  also  sent  a  thrill  of  sorrow  surging  through  the 
heart  of  our  Lord. 

Byron  in  one  of  his  letters  said:  "What  fills 
me  with  despair  is  not  the  thought  of  what  I  am 
but  the  thought  of  what  I  might  have  been."11 
With  his  poetic  genius,  intellectual  power  and  large 
fund  of  aesthetic  emotion  and  heroic  feeling,  what 
might  he  have  been  had  all  these  been  turned  into 
the  right  ethical  channel.  Byron  neglected  the  one 
thing  that  makes  men  great,  aside  even  from  being 
capable,  and  that  is  character.  But  when  character 
and  capability  combine  in  one  personality,  greatness 
is  doubly  possible.  The  thought  of  what  service  he 
might  have  rendered,  with  all  his  native  gifts,  this 
rilled  him  with  regret;  a  regret  which  may  reach 
into  the  long  and  far  issues  of  eternity  and  which 
will  increase,  with  greater  intensity  as  the  eternal 
ages  roll.  This  is  the  principle  of  retribution  at 
work.  If  he  had  fallen  into  line  with  his  native  fit- 
ness for  service,  which  means  falling  into  line  with 
Providence,  such  regret  would  have  been  impossible. 
The  bane  of  neglected  or  misused  qualities  will  be 
the  consciousness  of  service  that  might  have  been 
rendered.  The  historian  has  a  significant  note  con- 
cerning Alcibiades  along  these  lines.  "With  quali- 
ties which,  properly  applied,  might  have  rendered 

11  Quoted  in  Steven's  "Psychology  of  the  Christian 
Soul,"  p.  107. 


78  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


him  the  greatest  benefactor  of  others,  he  contrived 
to  attain  the  distinction  of  being  that  citizen  who 
had  inflicted  upon  her  the  most  signal  amount  of 
damage."  Misused  Qualities!  They  were  intended 
to  help  life  and  history  along  with  the  rhythm  of 
poetry  and  the  music  of  a  song;  but  they  have  be- 
come jarring  notes  in  the  tune  that  Providence  in- 
tended to  play. 

A  modern  writer  has  told  us  of  some  who  do  not 
attain;  they  do  not  reach  the  fulness  of  their  being, 
nor  fulfil  all  their  capacities.  It  is  because  they  do 
not  sacrifice  for  service,  or  else  misuse  their  personal 
qualities,  and  instead  of  developing  the  altruistic 
feelings  they  develop  the  egotistic  properties  for 
personal  self-aggrandizement.  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte had  great  personal  powers  of  being,  but 
he  was  also  a  .great  egotist,  and  destructionist. 
Long  after  his  destructive  mission  was  complete  he 
went  on  destroying,  and  all  his  constructionist  move- 
ment centred  only  in  himself.  He  nullified  much 
of  his  real  service  by  his  extreme  selfishness.  Says 
this  writer.  "Napoleon  I,  great  as  he  was,  never 
truly  became.  A  destructionist  he  lived  and  died. 
He  loved  Napoleon  Bonaparte  I,  and  in  that  he 
lost  his  nobler  self  which  might  have  forever  blessed 
the  earth."12  It  was  this  nobler  self  which  had  it 
been  developed  might  have  become  pre-eminently 
constructive  in  its  service  for  men.  The  same 
writer  contrasts  with  him  others  who  did  attain  and 
who  rendered  enduring  service,  for  other  life.  "Sa- 
vonarola contending  for  the  purity  and  liberty  of 

12  Lathrop's  "How  a  Man  Grows,"  p.  200. 


The  Refusals  of  Service  79 


Florence  though  strangled  and  burned,  neverthe- 
less attained."  The  same  with  Luther  before 
the  Diet  of  Worms,  and  John  Knox  before 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scotland;  these  men  attained 
the  fulness  of  being  through  their  never-dying 
service. 

So  it  is  with  multitudes!  If  we  are  here  to  de- 
velop our  personality  in  power  for  service,  and  we 
refuse  to  do  this  we  can  never  reach  the  ideal  of 
creation  and  Providence.  The  refusal  to  accept 
the  Christian  religion  and  to  become  a  follower  of 
Christ,  not  only  means  a  refusal  to  accept  that 
which  enriches,  and  ennobles  and  expands  the  prop- 
erties of  personal  being,  it  is  also  a  refusal  to  ac- 
cept that  which  qualifies  for  service,  and  opens  up 
the  avenues  of  thought  to  the  discovery  of  channels 
in  life  and  society  along  which  the  power  of  service 
may  flow.  The  principle  of  retribution  in  the  form 
of  loss  of  capacity  and  decrease  of  personality  will 
follow  as  surely  as  it  followed  in  the  case  of  na- 
tions, and  specific  individuals,  and  in  the  realm  of 
nature.  Eternal  retribution,  doubtless  finds  its 
basis  here  and  is  seen  to  be  the  sequence  of  a  self- 
inflicted  pain. 

Then,  refuse  not  service  for  which  you  are  ca- 
pable. Society  needs  it,  for  its  enrichment  and  per- 
petuation and  purification.  Every  one  has  some 
power  native  to  his  own  being  which  may  be  ex- 
pressed in  acts  of  service  for  the  general  life.  "We 
have  in  our  very  constitution  as  men — in  conscience, 
individuality  and  instinct — a  predestined  goal,  a 
predestined  path  by  which  we  can  best  reach  the 


8o  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


goal,  and  energy  to  carry  us  through !  None  of  the 
three  can  be  safely  ignored  or  mutilated,  or  sup- 
pressed."13 We  may  have  the  predestined  goal,  but 
if  we  do  not  walk  along  the  predestined  path  which 
is  the  path  of  service,  the  goal  can  never  be  reached 
and  we  shall  not  attain.  Let  us  then  not  ignore  nor 
mutilate  nor  suppress  the  gifts  of  service,  but  let 
them  work  themselves  out  in  mighty  thoughts  and 
deeds  for  men. 

There  are  many  organisms  in  nature  which  have 
been  perpetuated  largely  by  the  service  which  they 
have  rendered.  Some  flowers,  fruits  and  berries 
have  become  fit  for  food  for  birds;  some,  such  as 
apples  and  plums,  and  pears  and  others,  unfit  in 
their  original  native  state,  have  multiplied  and 
through  their  cultivated  lusciousness  have  become 
fit  for  man's  food.  Cabbage,  lettuce  and  many 
cereals  have  become  adapted  to  the  same  end.  Many 
flowers  have  been  perpetuated  solely  on  the  ground 
that  they  are  capable  under  cultivation  of  satisfying 
the  aesthetic  sense.  In  the  animal  world  dogs  and 
other  creatures  have  become  unique  in  their  struc- 
tures, and  made  fit  for  service,  and  because  of  their 
service  have  been  perpetuated.  Many  of  these 
might  have  ceased  to  exist  but  for  their  utility. 
They  have  been  preserved  through  service.  This 
is  the  secret  of  their  continuity.  If  you  would  pre- 
serve your  being  and  the  being  of  society,  and  at- 
tain to  everlasting  life,  this  is  one  of  the  secrets. 
Find  your  capacity  for  service;  fill  it  to  the  utmost, 
then  work  it  out  in  glorious  acts  for  God  and  man. 
u  Steven's  "Psychology  of  Christian  Soul,"  p.  16. 


The  Refusals  of  Service 


81 


This  is  the  royal  road  to  greatness  according  to  the 
principles  of  Jesus  Christ.  Before  he  came,  men 
were  great  by  being  served ;  since  he  came  men  be- 
come great  because  they  serve. 


CHAPTER  V 


The  Dangers  of  Democracy 

Then  said  all  the  trees  unto  the  bramble.  Come 
thou  and  reign  over  us. 

j^/J  UCH  common  talk  would  sometimes  lead  us  to 
suppose  that  democracy  has  no  dangers ;  that  it 
is  in  the  hollow  of  the  hand  of  the  Almighty  and 
nothing  can  come  nigh  unto  it,  nor  out  of  it  to  in- 
jure its  life  or  make  its  existence  precarious.  There 
are  thrones  that  are  rocking  upon  the  surging  sea 
of  modern  society,  there  are  governments  of  an- 
other form  that  are  liable  to  upheaval  at  any  time, 
but  democracy  is  unconditionally  safe  and  harm- 
less. 

Any  student  who  penetrates  below  the  surface  of 
things  knows  differently.  Democracy  is  but  one 
form  of  government  and  community  life  among 
others  and  is  subject  to  proper  conditions  and  right 
laws  for  its  safety  and  perpetuation.  Most  of  its 
dangers  are  found  within  its  own  constitution. 
They  are  faults  that  arise  from  the  misconception  or 
abuse  of  its  own  great  privileges.  Sociologists  and 
political  economists  assure  us  that  this  is  so. 
We  are  facing  forces  they  tell  us  which  are  chal- 
lenging the  existence  of  good  government  and  civic 
82 


The  Dangers  of  Democracy  83 


righteousness  in  large  centres  of  population.  De- 
mocracy has  its  dangers  as  well  as  autocracy.  It  is 
here  not  a  king  who  is  liable  to  lose  his  throne, 
but  a  people. 

One  of  these  dangers  is  indicated  in  this  part 
of  our  parable.  It  is  that  which  arises  from  the 
choice  of  incompetent  and  unworthy  leaders.  It  is 
not  the  choice  of  Providence,  for  He  always  puts  the 
right  man  in  the  right  place;  it  is  not  the  choice  of 
an  extravagant  hereditary  principle,  but  of  a  free 
democracy.  When  the  trees  of  the  field  chose  the 
bramble  to  be  their  leader,  it  was  the  choice  of  un- 
fitness, incompetency,  and  unworthiness.  It  was 
the  choice  of  bramble  or  thorny  principles  and 
ideals,  which  are  capable  of  piercing  those  who  favor 
and  support  them. 

This  is  always  a  possibility  of  democratic  life. 
If  the  people  have  thorny  principles  and  low  ideals, 
they  are  liable  to  choose  leaders  of  the  same  calibre, 
and  place  into  honorable  and  responsible  positions 
those  who  are  unfit  so  far  as  their  talents  and  char- 
acter are  concerned.  There  are  conditions  apparent 
in  our  political,  social  and  civil  life  which  make  this 
possible.  It  is  the  complaint  of  many  of  our  re- 
formers that  in  numerous  cases,  important  offices 
are  filled  in  the  city  with  the  incompetent.  It  is  due 
generally  to  the  fact  that  the  civic  conscience  is 
slumbering.  Men  who  manifest  great  genius  in 
business-life  leave  the  city  where  their  business  is 
transacted,  and  reside  in  the  suburbs  in  comfort  and 
ease,  and  care  little  or  nothing  for  the  good  govern- 
ment of  city  life.   They  leave  its  civic  and  political 


84 


The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


offices  to  be  filled  by  men  of  unscrupulous  principles, 
small  ability  and  low  ideals. 

There  is  no  form  of  community  life  that  requires 
the  leadership  of  competent  men  as  the  democratic 
form  does,  and  no  leadership  that  depends  for  its 
position  on  public  choice  as  it  does  here.  It  is  neces- 
sary that  the  choices  of  the  body  politic  be  trained 
by  sound  education  and  high  typed  religion.  The 
more  democratic  a  people  become  the  more  they  need 
the  forces  of  religion  and  education.  The  ideals  of 
a  people  determine  their  choices  of  leadership,  but 
their  growth  of  ideals  will  depend  on  the  amount  of 
religious  and  educative  force  that  is  put  into  them. 
Autocracy  may  be  able  to  perpetuate  itself  independ- 
ently of  these  forces,  but  democracy  cannot.  When 
these  are  neglected  the  foundations  of  the  fabric  are 
liable  to  totter  through  wrong  leadership.  Social- 
istic, communistic,  anarchistic  leaders  often  lead  the 
great  mass  of  the  people  into  grave  and  serious  er- 
rors by  their  teaching,  a  fact  which  shows  the  need 
of  pure  teaching. 

Is  not  this  the  judgment  of  history  concerning 
many  of  the  factors  and  elements  at  work  in  the 
French  Revolution?  "It  was  the  States-General 
that  precipitated  the  Revolution,  or  rather  it  was 
that  part  of  it  which  owed  their  position  in  the  body 
to  the  choice  of  the  democracy.  It  is  generally  con- 
ceded, they  were  a  respectable  body  of  men,  but 
they  were  incompetent,  deficient  in  political  experi- 
ence and  the  theory  and  art  of  government,  and 
were  as  conceited  as  they  were  inexperienced.  What 
was  the  result?    Let  history  answer!    One  of  the 


The  Dangers  of  Democracy  85 


greatest  periods  of  social  and  political  confusion, 
one  of  the  most  abrupt  interferences  with  the  evolu- 
tion of  progress,  one  of  the  most  tragic,  bloodiest, 
most  cruel,  arbitrary  scenes  that  ever  appeared  in 
the  history  of  a  nation  or  a  race.  Much  of  it  was 
due  to  incompetent  leadership.  Yet  it  was  democ- 
racy that  gave  these  men  their  power. 

There  is  also  complaint  uttered  sometimes  against 
the  authorities  of  the  church  in  dealing  with  re- 
ligious and  social  problems  in  large  and  populous 
centres.  They  place  second-rate  men  in  first-rate 
places.  That  is,  these  places  are  first-rate  in  their 
strategic  importance.  They  are  situated  at  the  cen- 
tre of  these  modern  storm-movements.  The  down- 
town church,  the  city  mission,  the  institutional 
church  that  are  situated  where  the  problems  are 
most  acute  require  the  strongest  men  the  church  can 
command.  They  need  men  of  efficient  organizing, 
oratorical  and  spiritual  power,  who  should  not  be 
left  to  work  out  their  own  starvation  with  fear 
and  trembling,  but  who  should  have  an  adequate 
support  from  the  church  authorities,  independently 
of  their  conditions  and  environment.  When  the 
church  sends  its  missionaries  to  Africa  or  China  it 
provides  for  them  adequately;  so  when  the  church 
sends  a  man  into  the  midst  of  problematic  city  life 
it  should  provide  for  him  in  similar  manner.  It  is 
complained  that  this  is  not  done.  "We  are  putting 
our  poorest  men,"  says  Dr.  Stelzle,  "in  those  strate- 
gic centres,  and  then  desert  them,  letting  them  fight 
their  own  battles,  and  sometimes  we  permit  them  to 
kill  themselves  in  their  efforts  to  help  the  people 


86  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


whom  they  have  come  to  understand."  1 

Any  one  who  is  acquainted  in  any  way  with  the 
Forward  Movement  in  the  English  Wesleyan 
Church,  will  know  it  has  always  been  the  policy  and 
practice  of  the  church  since  the  initiation  of  that 
movement  to  place  the  very  ablest  and  best  men  the 
church  has  in  the  strategic  centres  of  the  national 
life  in  the  great  cities.  This  is  one  secret  of  the 
success  of  that  movement. 

If  fitness  is  the  key  to  service,  this  is  one  of  the 
principles  of  life  taught  by  nature,  history  and  ex- 
perience which  ought  to  be  impressed  upon  the  very 
heart  and  conscience  of  democracy  to  save  it  from 
throttling  its  own  life  by  the  support  of  incompe- 
tent, thorny  leadership.  The  great  social  move- 
ments of  to-day  demand  competent  leaders.  "We 
must  supply,"  says  Dr.  Stelzle,  "competent  leaders 
who  will  direct  the  people  in  their  struggle.  We 
need  talented  men  and  women  who  have  caught  a 
vision.  No  man  or  woman  is  too  good  for  that 
kind  of  a  job  for  it  will  require  the  best  talent  that 
God  ever  gave  anybody."  If  these  leaders  are  not 
forthcoming  the  social  movement  and  political 
forces  will  be  led  by  bramble  kings  from  whom  fire 
will  go  forth  and  devour  those  who  put  their  trust 
in  their  shadow.  It  will  result  in  irreligion,  cor- 
ruption, confusion,  anarchy,  the  loss  of  pure  de- 
mocracy. 

Let  this  danger  be  applied  a  little  more  person- 
ally. In  personal  political  relations,  men  often 
choose  leaders  and  representatives  who  are  unworthy 

1  Merrick  Lectures,  p.  32. 


The  Dangers  of  Democracy 


87 


of  their  choice.  They  thus  use  the  liberty  they  pos- 
sess in  a  base  and  vile  manner.  Democracy  brings 
many  privileges  but  it  also  brings  many  responsi- 
bilities, and  to  choose  worthy  leaders,  who  know 
the  principles  of  sound  government,  who  will  not  be 
mere  time-servers,  and  office-seekers,  who  will  not 
be  mere  self-interested  men,  this  is  one  of  the  re- 
sponsibilities of  political  choice. 

The  world  has  seen  many  unworthy  leaders  in 
the  shape  of  kings,  who  came  to  their  position  and 
office  not  by  the  will  of  the  people.  And  as  we  read 
of  their  conduct  in  the  pages  of  history,  we  are 
led  to  deplore  such  facts.  Is  there  not  something 
we  ought  to  deplore  a  great  deal  more?  We  can- 
not undo  the  past  and  are  not  responsible  for  it; 
but  instead  of  deploring  unworthy  leaders  in  the 
past,  let  us  deplore  the  fact  that  many  who  have 
the  power  of  political  choice,  use  that  power  for 
the  election  to  office  of  men  who  are  unfit  and  un- 
worthy. The  franchise  has  been  dearly  purchased 
by  the  struggling  and  suffering  and  blood  of  men  in 
the  past;  yet  how  often  it  is  abused  to-day  in  the 
choice  of  partisan  and  self-interested  leaders.  It  is 
degraded  by  men  of  false  principles  and  low  ideals. 
Much  crime  is  rampant  in  some  of  our  large  cities 
because  the  people  have  chosen  the  wrong  men  to 
rule ;  men  who  instead  of  suppressing  vice  are  ready 
to  encourage  it  by  their  own  suffrages;  men  who, 
instead  of  practicing  economy  or  using  public  money 
for  the  general  welfare,  appropriate  it  for  inter- 
ested purposes.  The  people  say  to  the  Bramble, 
Come  thou  and  reign  over  us;  and  they  get  the 


88 


The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


bramble  over  them  and  into  them  with  a  great 
amount  of  intensity  and  earnestness. 

The  business  of  all  civil  government  is  to  make 
it  easy  for  men  to  do  right  and  hard  to  do  wrong. 
But  all  this  depends  on  the  choice  of  the  Democracy. 
If  the  people  will  not  uphold  those  who  stand  for 
civic  righteousness  then  nothing  but  thorns  will 
flourish  in  the  political  world.  Democracy  depends 
for  its  strength  upon  the  growth  and  choice  of  sound 
moral  principles  and  high  ideals  in  the  heart  and 
conscience  of  the  people.  Those  who  will  choose 
the  Bramble  will  choose  a  power  that  will  entangle, 
corrupt  and  destroy.  The  men  of  Shechem  to 
whom  our  parable  refers,  soon  discovered  that 
Abimelech  and  his  people  were  soon  fighting  each 
other.  The  Bramble  began  to  tear  them.  That  is 
how  it  always  results.  Cities  and  nations  governed 
by  men  of  false  principles  and  low  ideals  become 
corrupt  and  costly. 

It  is  the  same  in  individual  and  social  life.  Per- 
sonal life  governed  in  this  way  becomes  ruined  in 
soul  and  character.  The  same  result  obtains 
whether  it  concerns  the  government  of  a  city  or  a 
man's  individual  life.  "The  wages  of  sin  is  death." 
There  is  a  flower  known  to  the  botanist  as  the  Sun- 
dew. On  each  leaf  there  are  hairs  or  tentacles,  on 
the  ends  of  which  a  tiny  dew-drop  appears  to  be 
lodged.  When  an  insect  alights  upon  the  leaf  these 
dew-drops  act  as  a  kind  of  sticky  gum  and  prevent 
its  escape,  the  leaf  meanwhile  closing  on  its  prey 
and  strangling  or  stifling  it  to  death.  These  plants 
not  only  allure,  but  when  they  have  allured,  they 


The  Dangers  of  Democracy  89 


destroy.  How  very  much  like  these  flowers  are 
those  men  of  unworthy  principles  who  pose  as 
leaders  of  the  people.  They  allure,  then  destroy. 
It  is  so,  too,  in  the  choice  of  leaders  of  this  kind  in 
the  walks  of  friendship  and  companionship.  Like 
the  tentacles  of  the  leaf  they  have  their  glistening 
and  sparkling  dew-drop  to  entice  but  in  that  dew- 
drop  there  is  death.  Democracy  and  individuals 
must  avoid  such  leadership. 

Another  danger  to  which  Democracy  may  be 
exposed  is  an  excessive  love  of  liberty.  Excess  is 
always  dangerous,  especially  when  it  becomes 
idealistic  in  the  life  of  a  people.  This  is  the  road 
to  licentiousness  and  lawlessness,  and  lawlessness  is 
sin.  Democracy  is  particularly  liable  to  this  peril 
because  it  often  becomes  egotistic  in  its  claim  of 
freedom.  This,  of  course,  arises  from  false  ideas 
of  freedom.  Too  many  people  having  wrong  con- 
ceptions of  freedom  are  led  into  excesses  in  their 
political,  social  and  even  religious  life.  Liberty  is 
antagonistic  to  license  and  license  spells  death  to 
liberty.  There  are  some  who  desire  to  do  as  they 
please,  it  matters  not  what  society  they  reside  among 
or  by  what  civil  constitution  they  are  governed. 
These  have  wrong  notions  of  liberty.  They  are 
living  far  too  late  in  the  world's  history.  They 
should  have  lived  in  the  times  of  the  Jewish  Judges 
when  every  man  lived  as  though  he  was  a  law  unto 
himself.  Or  they  should  have  lived  in  the  days  of 
the  Greek  Tyrants  when  every  new  schemer  could 
secure  some  following  and  by  force  take  hold  of  the 
reigns  of  government.    Or  they  should  have  lived 


90 


The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


in  the  last  days  of  the  Roman  Republic  and  then 
they  may  have  realized  what  it  means  to  endorse 
such  an  idea  of  freedom. 

In  order  for  a  man  to  become  absolutely  a  law 
unto  himself  he  should  live  as  a  kind  of  Robinson 
Crusoe  on  a  lonely  isle  somewhere  amid  the  great 
expanse  of  sea.  Yet  even  this  would  not  secure  him 
such  license  as  he  desires.  The  great  fact  is,  wher- 
ever a  man  may  dwell,  whether  on  the  desert  wild 
away  from  the  haunts  of  men  or  on  some  lonely 
isle  surrounded  only  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  deep, 
nature  would  contradict  such  an  idea  of  liberty. 
There  is  no  nook  or  crevice  in  God's  universe  where 
natural  law  does  not  operate.  To  the  man  who  says 
"I  will  do  as  I  like,"  regardless  of  the  fact  that  he 
lives  among  human  society,  Nature  says,  No!  Na- 
ture confines  everything  to  the  realm  of  law. 

A  licentious  act  of  any  kind  is  against  the  inter- 
est of  government  and  law.  A  man  cannot  do  as 
he  likes  with  his  physical  nature,  for  it  is  under  the 
control  of  well-defined  laws.  If  he  abuses  his  body 
by  transgressing  these  laws  he  suffers  pain.  He 
cannot  do  as  he  likes  with  his  mind  without  suffer- 
ing as  the  result.  If  the  laws  of  mind  are  neglected, 
incapacity  and  degeneration  are  the  result.  He 
cannot  do  as  he  likes  with  his  moral  nature,  for 
if  moral  law  is  transgressed,  moral  suffering  is 
realised.  Nature  denies  absolute  liberty  to  a  man 
who  would  do  as  he  likes  unless  he  likes  to  do  what 
is  right.  The  prodigal  son  was  of  this  class.  He 
thought  that  by  getting  away  from  his  father's  house 
he  would  be  free  to  do  as  he  wished  and  no  harm 


The  Dangers  of  Democracy  91 


would  come  to  him.  But  he  found  that  even  in 
the  far  country,  natural  law  was  at  work  and  he 
had  to  suffer  for  the  license  he  had  taken. 

Society  also,  which  belongs  to  the  system  of 
things,  says  No!  to  such  an  idea.  Even  the  lowest 
society  that  which  has  not  reached  the  lowest  stage 
of  civilization  recognizes  some  law  for  its  general 
guidance.  There  are  laws  in  all  civilized  society 
imposed  upon  the  individual  for  the  order  and  bene- 
fit of  all.  These  limit  and  confine  man's  action  so 
that  he  cannot  do  as  he  likes.  Such  freedom  does 
not  exist.  When  claimed  it  becomes  excessive  and 
is  really  license.  What  is  true  of  the  individual  is 
true  of  the  body  politic.  If  such  excessive  love  of 
liberty  is  baneful  in  individual  practice,  it  is  bane- 
ful for  society  and  democracy  at  large.  This  is  one 
of  its  perils  if  such  false  notions  become  rampant 
among  men. 

Dr.  Bruce  considers  one  of  the  faults  in  the  life 
of  the  ancient  Greeks  to  be  "an  excessive  love  of 
liberty."  And  every  student  of  history  recognizes 
that  many  excesses  which  happened,  under  the  name 
of  liberty,  in  the  French  Revolution,  were  due 
to  this  same,  and  the  above  mentioned  faults.  "It 
was  a  sort  of  communistic  equality,"  says  Dr.  Lord, 
"where  every  man  could  do  precisely  as  he  liked, 
take  even  his  neighbor's  property,  and  annihilate  all 
distinctions  of  society,  all  inequalities  of  condition 
— a  miserable,  fanatical  dream,  impossible  to  realise 
under  any  form  of  government  which  can  be  con- 
ceived. ...  It  was  license  and  not  liberty." 

In  constituting  itself  the  nation,  the  third  sec- 


92  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


tion  of  the  States-General,  the  democracy,  shows 
how  under  such  false  notions  and  excessive  love  of 
liberty,  a  democracy  can  become  exceeding  tyran- 
nous. Tyranny  is  due  to  the  desire  of  one  individ- 
ual, whether  he  be  king  or  private  citizen, — or 
the  class  called  aristocracy,  or  that  calling  itself 
democracy,  ignoring  the  fact  that  law  is  universal 
and  governs  all  in  the  interest  of  the  individual,  and 
the  individual  in  the  interest  of  all.  Tyrants  al- 
ways are  excessive  in  their  love  of  liberty  for  them- 
selves; they  love  to  do  as  they  please  irrespective  of 
the  rights  of  others  whether  they  are  seated  on  a 
throne,  or  act  as  boss  of  a  political  machine,  or  as 
corporation  or  railway  magnate,  in  the  office  or 
elsewhere.  Wherever  they  are  found,  men  with  this 
idea  of  liberty  become  tyrants.  This  is  true  of  the 
body  politic  also.  The  Whigs,  originally  demo- 
cratic, in  the  time  of  Edmund  Burke  had  become 
autocratic  and  tyrannous,  and  were  dangerous  to 
the  existence  of  the  very  ideals  for  which  they  had 
struggled  and  contended.  They  became  absolute 
and  undemocratic,  an  historical  instance  showing 
one  of  the  perils  arising  from  wrong  notions  of 
liberty. 

"Liberty,"  says  John  Stuart  Blackie,  "is  like  wine 
and  like  fire — it  tends  constantly  to  an  excess,  it  is 
a  word  the  very  sound  of  which  intoxicates  the 
soul  of  many  a  hearer,  justly  enough  perhaps,  if 
the  hearer  has  lived  for  long  years  like  a  caged  bird 
within  the  iron  restraints  of  some  cruel  masterdom. 
But  after  all,  liberty  is  only  the  starting  point,  not 
goal  of  civilization.    Not  the  enjoyment  of  un- 


The  Dangers  of  Democracy  93 


shackled  liberty,  but  the  recognition  of  a  reasonable 
limitation,  makes  a  man  characteristically  a  man,  as 
the  singer  sings: 

"The  beasts  of  the  forest  are  free; 
The  wild  tornadoes  that  sweep  the  sky, 
The  tempests  that  harrow  the  sea; 
But  man  is  a  thing  more  divine; 
With  reasoned  subjection 
He  makes  his  election, 
And  bends  with  awe 
To  Sovereign  Law, 
And  limits  that  wisely  confine." 

When  he  thus  limits  himself,  then  only  does  he 
begin  to  realize  true  freedom;  for  true  freedom  is 
always  and  only  harmony  with  true  law.  Without 
this,  the  love  of  liberty  tends  to  produce  corrup- 
tion, anarchy,  degeneration,  failure  and  death.  It 
defeats  the  ideas  of  true  democracy,  and  the  ends 
for  which  it  exists.  Yet  there  is  such  a  tendency  ex- 
isting among  democratic  peoples.  It  manifests  itself 
in  varied  forms.*  Russia  with  her  autocratic  gov- 
ernment, excluded  Vodka  from  her  midst;  but  in 
free  America  the  brewers,  and  the  drinkers  talk  of 
being  deprived  of  their  liberty  when  their  liquor 
traffic  is  in  peril  of  being  restricted.  Even  in  a 
democracy  no  man  or  set  of  men  possess  an  unre- 
stricted liberty  to  secure  their  livelihood  as  they 
please.  No  man  has  a  right  to  thrive  on  the  degra- 
dation of  his  fellows.   His  liberty  must  be  restricted 

♦This  was  written  before  the  Russian  Revolution. 


94  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


here.  Yet  this  is  the  claim  of  the  brewers,  and  their 
kin.  Democracy  will  not  tolerate  this.  That  means 
lawlessness.  Temperance  reformers  desire  not  to 
rob  those  engaged  in  the  liquor  traffic  of  the  power 
of  livelihood  but  to  direct  their  powers  into  chan- 
nels of  a  livelihood  that  shall  be  honest  and  useful 
not  only  to  themselves  but  to  democracy  at  large. 

But  not  only  among  these  do  we  find  this  peril. 
When  we  observe  the  big  trusts  defying  govern- 
ment for  their  own  ends,  men  taking  the  law  into 
their  own  hands,  and  becoming  murderers  of  the 
murderer,  (or  it  may  happen  the  innocent  one), 
when  we  see  the  most  ordinary  individuals  among 
society  expounding  and  manifesting  disrespect  to 
judges,  magistrates  and  officers  of  the  law;  when 
we  are  brought  face  to  face  in  the  ordinary  walks 
of  life  with  false  ideas  of  equality,  low  ideals  of 
authority,  disrespect  for  their  elders  among  the 
boys  and  girls,  and  the  ignoring  of  personality 
among  the  masses,  and  the  lack  of  etiquette  in  social 
and  commercial  relations;  what  have  we  here  but 
an  excessive  love  of  liberty! 

Paley  defines  it  well  when  he  says:  "To  do 
what  we  will  is  natural  liberty;  to  do  what  we 
will  consistently  with  the  interests  of  the  commun- 
ity to  which  we  belong,  is  civil  liberty;  that  is  to 
say,  the  only  liberty  to  be  desired  in  a  state  of  civil 
society.,,  Apart  from  this,  society,  under  whatever 
name  it  exists,  becomes  uncivil.  It  will  be  ruled  only 
by  and  in  the  interest  of  bramble  kings,  and  will  be- 
come bramble  society. 

Liberty   is   an   indispensable  blessing  to  men, 


The  Dangers  of  Democracy  95 


but  by  their  misuse,  excessiveness,  and  abuse, 
blessings  often  become  evils.  The  little  fungi 
in  the  natural  world,  that  live  on  exhausted 
and  decaying  vegetable  matter;  on  noxious  organ- 
isms, and  stifling  weeds  which  otherwise  would  over- 
run our  gardens,  do  us  a  service  and  become  a  great 
blessing.  When,  however,  they  prey  on  our  po- 
tatoes and  destroy  our  vines  and  fruit  trees,  and 
prevent  us  from  enjoying  our  garden  crop,  it  is  a 
case  of  blessings  becoming  evils,  and  we  cannot  tol- 
erate them.  So  liberty,  when  it  is  transformed  into 
license,  is  simply  a  blessing  changed  into  an  evil. 
The  only  true  liberty  is  that  which  comes  through 
the  harmony  of  the  moral  agent  with  moral  law; 
the  harmony  of  the  social  unit  with  the  sound 
government  of  the  whole  social  organism. 

Another  danger  to  democracy  is  in  the  tendency 
to  materialism.  This  arises  partly  from  the  sense 
of  freedom,  privilege  and  prosperity  which  generally 
accompanies  the  growth  of  democracy.  The  pos- 
session of  the  substances  that  provide  for  the  com- 
fortable living  of  the  masses  of  men,  unless  it  is  sup- 
plemented by  religious  sentiments  and  ideals  will 
tend  to  the  realisation  or  thought  of  dependence  on 
these  alone.  That  is  a  drift  toward  materialism. 
Prosperity  must  be  accompanied  by  religion  or  it 
will  drive  toward  self-indulgence.  Emerson  says, 
"the  true  test  of  a  civilization  or  country  is  the 
kind  of  man  it  produces."  This  is  a  real  test  and 
is  significant  of  much  in  view  of  Haeckel's  concep- 
tion of  man.  "Our  human  nature,"  he  says,  "sinks 
to  the  level  of  a  placental  mammal  which  is  of  no 


96 


The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


more  value  for  the  universe  at  large  than  the  ant, 
the  fly  of  a  summer's  day,  the  microscopic  infusorium 
of  the  smallest  bacillus."  That  is  a  description  of 
the  materialistic  man,  produced  on  the  basis  and  by 
the  principles  of  materialistic  evolution.  If  this  is 
the  only  kind  of  man  that  civilization  or  democ- 
racy could  produce,  he  is  hardly  worth  the  cost  of 
production.  This  represents  one  of  the  fatal  ten- 
dencies of  life,  the  ignoring  of  personality.  If  we 
become  so  absorbed  in  the  material  substances  of 
life  as  to  ignore  this  great  fact  of  the  universe,  per- 
sonality, or  even  to  under-value  it,  the  death-knell 
of  democracy  will  sound.  Democracy,  above  all 
other  forms  of  society  needs  the  emphasis  to  be  laid 
on  the  development  of  true,  high,  noble  personality. 
It  cannot  proceed  and  perpetuate  itself  without  it. 
We  are  in  danger  of  laying  the  emphasis  in  the 
wrong  place,  amid  our  prosperous  life.  An  Ameri- 
can traveller  tells  of  two  contrasts  he  saw  in  the 
city  of  Caracas,  Venezuela.  In  this  city  he  visited 
the  State  Palace  of  Miraflores,  in  which  there  was 
a  room  that  cost  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for 
its  beautiful  decorations.  In  the  centre  of  the  town 
existed  a  bridge,  in  the  middle  of  which  had  existed 
for  years  a  yawning  hole  which  was  a  menace  to 
public  traffic.  While  the  State  spent  large  sums  of 
money  in  decorating  the  President's  room,  it  neg- 
lected to  remove  a  danger  to  the  public  which  would 
cost  only  a  few  dollars.  This  is  emphasizing  the 
non-essential  to  the  neglect  of  the  essential.  The 
emphasis  is  in  the  wrong  place.  Our  emphasis  is 
often  strong  on  the  wrong  point.    We  emphasize 


The  Dangers  of  Democracy  97 


material  substance  and  neglect  the  development  of 
true  personality,  especially  along  spiritual  lines. 

This  tendency  was  noticed  by  Mazzini  in  the  lat- 
ter days  of  the  Roman  Republic.  "Great  principles 
were  no  more.  Material  interests  existed  still.  .  .  . 
The  soul  of  man  had  fled :  the  senses  reigned  alone. 
The  multitude  demanded  bread  and  the  sports  of 
the  circus."  2  In  this  demand,  which  to  a  great 
extent  is  heard  to-day,  unless  it  is  counter-balanced 
with  the  demand  for  spiritual  ideals,  righteousness, 
religion,  there  is  a  grave  peril  for  modern  demo- 
cratic life.  By  making  such  a  demand,  we  are  in- 
viting the  Bramble  king  to  come  and  reign  over  us. 
And  the  brambles  of  materialism  are  sharp  and 
penetrating  for  they  drive  the  soul  out  of  life. 
"We  have  only  one  enemy,"  said  Renan,  "vulgar 
materialism,  the  baseness  of  the  interested  man." 
And  a  more  recent  writer  has  noted  the  same 
tendencies  among  the  multitudes  of  Germany,  a 
tendency  he  believes  which  has  been  a  great  factor 
in  the  production  of  the  terrible  European  war. 
"The  upper  classes,"  he  says,  "are  intellectual 
materialists,  and  the  lower  ranks  the  victims  of 
Germany's  new  religion — Social  Democracy."  It  is 
not,  however,  materialistic  theories  of  the  universe, 
among  the  more  democratic  peoples  we  have  to  fear  ; 
it  is  the  existence  of  materialistic  practices  that  carry 
the  greater  peril  with  them.  As  a  matter  of  thought 
materialism  will  not  work  its  greatest  ravages.  But 
as  a  matter  of  practice,  which  absorbs  the  soul  of  a 
people  in  getting  and  spending,   indulging  and 

2  Essay  on  "Faith  and  the  Future." 


98  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


revelling,  acquiring  and  enjoying  that  which  is 
acquired  merely  as  an  end  in  itself,  this  is  the  dread 
tendency.  It  is  what  the  apostle  calls  the  very 
essence  of  worldliness.  And  as  Christ  has  warned 
us,  "What  shall  it  profit  a  man  (or  a  people,  or  a 
democracy)  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose 
himself;"  acquiring  estate,  riches,  comforts,  at  the 
expense  of  the  development  and  salvation,  and  per- 
fecting of  personality.  There  is  a  great  danger 
arising  from  the  mad  haste  to  get  rich ;  but  there  is 
a  greater  one:  the  tendency  to  judge  everything  by 
material  standards  and  to  place  material  values 
above  spiritual  values,  forgetting  that  "man  cannot 
live  by  bread  alone." 

The  naturalist  tells  of  certain  lichens,  which 
having  lost  their  vitality  find  some  substitute  to  en- 
able them  to  perpetuate  their  existence.  When  they 
are  dying  they  dig  for  themselves  a  grave  wherein 
they  deposit  their  dust.  In  this  dust  are  certain 
chemicals  which  have  the  power  of  disintegration — 
the  rock  splits,  the  hole  is  made  and  in  this  grave,  as 
it  were,  they  perpetuate  themselves.  It  is  a  sub- 
stitute for  vitality.  The  tendency  of  many  is  to  sub- 
stitute the  true  sources  of  vitality  for  that  which  is 
material,  which  should  be  secondary  to  such.  By  so 
doing  they  are  like  the  lichens,  burying  their  very 
self  in  the  grave  of  materialism. 
i  Life  is  a  spiritual  essence.  National  life,  as  Ed- 
mund Burke  long  ago  said,  is  a  spiritual  principle, 
without  which  democracy  could  not  hold  itself  to- 
gether. The  brambles  of  materialism  must  be  ex- 
tirpated by  putting  first  things  first.   "Seek  first  the 


The  Dangers  of  Democracy  99 


kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness  and  all  these 
things  shall  be  added."  That  is  the  true  order  of 
democratic  progress;  any  other  idea  will  mean  the 
subversion  of  the  order  of  progress.  It  is  not  intel- 
lectual materialism  we  have  to  fear  for  that  is  sim- 
ply a  contradiction  in  terms.  Intellect  is  a  spiritual 
thing.  Our  material  progress  has  been  produced 
by  the  authority  of  spirit  over  matter.  On  the 
basis  of  materialistic  theories  there  could  be  no  prog- 
ress. No!  It  is  practical  materialism  we  have 
to  fear.  When  men  "serve  the  creature  more  than 
the  Creator,"  then  let  democracy  beware! 

Yet  another  danger  lies  in  the  tendency 
to  ignore  or  undervalue  character.  When  the 
great  Pericles  was  lying  on  his  death  bed 
his  friends  stood  around  him  re-counting  his 
wonderful  exploits.  The  dying  man  suddenly 
interrupted  them  by  saying,  "What  you  praise 
in  me  is  partly  the  result  of  good  fortune, 
and  at  all  events,  common  to  me  with  many  other 
commanders.  What  I  chiefly  pride  myself  upon  you 
have  not  noticed, — no  Athenian  ever  wore  mourn- 
ing through  me."  The  great  man  prided  himself 
with  that  which  they  ignored, — character  or  moral 
worth.  Is  there  not  this  danger  still  of  ignoring  or 
under-estimating  the  value  of  moral  character?  In 
exercising  its  great  political  and  social  powers  is  not 
democracy  sometimes  in  danger  of  overlooking  moral 
worth?  At  election  times  when  the  party  and  fac- 
tional spirit  runs  high,  are  we  not  sometimes  in 
danger  of  putting  other  qualities  above  the  supreme 
quality  of  character  in  our  political  choices  and  for 


100  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


party  purposes,  and  putting  the  bramble  kings  into 
places  where  they  are  dangerous  to  the  welfare  of 
democracy?  Brambles  give  the  most  heat  when 
they  are  busy  consuming  themselves,  but  when  they 
have  the  power  to  consume  society  they  generally 
conserve  their  own  combustibility.  They  are  only 
safe  when  they  are  making  their  own  fires.  So- 
ciety does  not  need  them  and  should  do  its  utmost 
to  prevent  them  from  lighting  fires  for  its  destruc- 
tion. Bramble  kings,  bramble  principles,  and  bram- 
ble ideals,  these  are  the  factors  that  pervert  and  ul- 
timately destroy.  Our  politics  should  not  be  party, 
but  principle,  not  policy,  but  righteousness. 

What  are  the  values  we  prize  most?  Is  it  genius? 
This  is  of  inestimable  value  to  society  and  abso- 
lutely necessary,  yet  even  genius  may  meet  an  un- 
timely fate  through  lack  of  moral  character.  Is  it 
political  power?  This  in  itself  is  a  great  modern 
privilege,  but  it  is  always  re-enforced  and  made 
stronger  by  character.  Is  it  wealth?  It  is  a 
blessing  to  mankind,  but  is  always  capable  of  doing 
most  good  when  operated  under  the  direction  of 
moral  character.  So  with  personal  influence.  This 
is  what  we  all  covet.  It  is  one  of  the  greatest  as- 
sets a  man  can  have,  yet  we  know  how  it  is  ennobled, 
refined,  enriched  by  character.  It  matters  not  on 
what  we  set  our  value,  nothing  can  take  the  place 
of  character;  but  every  strong  thing  that  is  of  value 
in  society  becomes  stronger  through  its  influence. 

Democracy  then  needs  the  support  and  re-enforce- 
ment which  moral  character  can  give.  This  is  the 
one  power  that  will  purify  its  channels  of  life  and 


The  Dangers  of  Democracy  ioi 


operations  of  spirit.  A  leading  sculptor  said  some- 
time ago  in  New  York,  "that  nearly  sixty  per  cent, 
of  all  the  monuments  and  statues  in  the  United 
States  including  those  in  Statuary  Hall,  Washing- 
ton, were  not  made  by  those  whose  names  they 
bear."  Now  these  are  the  ornaments  of  democ- 
racy, yet  do  they  not  stand  as  witnesses  of  the  spirit 
of  dishonesty.  Nothing  is  more  necessary  to  purify 
and  make  the  under-currents  of  our  life  honest  than 
a  stronger  emphasis  of  moral  worth.  It  is  by  the 
under-currents  of  life  our  democracy  is  made  strong 
or  weak,  and  by  those  under-currents  our  destiny 
is  determined.  Look  after  those  and  the  surface 
streams  of  life  will  look  after  themselves. 

"The  deepest  ice  that  ever  froze 
Can  only  o'er  the  surface  close; 
The  living  stream  lies  quick  below 
And  flows  and  cannot  cease  to  flow." 

Religion  is  more  essential  to  democracy  than  even 
to  an  autocracy;  for  in  a  democracy  multitudes  of 
personalities  rule,  but  in  an  autocracy  only  a  few 
rule.  Religion,  therefore,  must  distribute  its  influ- 
ence among  these  rulers  or  the  government  will  be 
corrupt.  It  is  this  power  that  will  keep  the  head 
and  heart  of  democracy  well-balanced.  Multitudes 
emphasize  education  to  the  neglect  of ,  religion. 
They  will  exert  themselves  extravagantly  to  get 
their  children  to  school  on  a  week-day  but 
they  will  not  exert  a  muscle  of  their  anatomy  to 
get  them  to  Sunday  School  and  church  on  the 


102  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


Sabbath.  They  ignore  altogether  the  fact  that  re- 
ligion is  one  feature  of  education;  that,  if  a  human 
personality  has  all  the  knowledge  he  can  get  of 
mathematics,  history,  geography  and  the  natural 
sciences,  and  yet  has  no  knowledge  of  the  princi- 
ples of  religion,  he  is  not  more  than  half-educated. 
He  is  an  ill-balanced,  incomplete,  one-sided  personal- 
ity. The  spiritual  side  of  his  nature,  the  conscience, 
the  affections,  the  religious  instincts  are  undeveloped 
for  the  want  of  religious  training.  This  is  liable  to 
produce  anything  but  a  well-balanced  democracy. 
"Come,"  said  the  lawyer  Danton  to  a  friend, 
when  the  clubs  began  to  be  strong  during  the 
French  Revolution,  "come  and  howl  with  us;  you 
will  earn  much  money,  and  you  can  still  choose  your 
party  afterwards."  A  howling  democracy!  This 
is  always  possible  where  religion  and  character  are 
ignored,  but  when  they  have  the  place  in  the  thought 
of  society  they  should  have  and  are  allowed  to  ex- 
ert their  refining  influence,  this  will  be  averted. 
Mobocracy  will  be  non-existent. 


CHAPTER  VI 


The  Responsibility  of  Democracy 

And  the  bramble  said  unto  the  trees,  "If  in  truth 
ye  anoint  me  king  over  you,  then  come  and  put  your 
trust  in  my  shadow;  and  if  not  let  fire  come  out  of 
the  bramble,  and  devour  the  cedars  of  Lebanon." 

T)  EMOCRACY  is  responsible  for  the  burden  of 
government.  With  reference  to  our  parable 
we  may  ask,  Who  was  responsible  for  the  condition 
of  things  existing  in  the  community  life?  All  the 
responsibilities  did  not  rest  on  Abimelech,  the 
bramble  king;  he  could  not  have  had  such  power 
but  for  the  suffrage  he  won.  Did  not  the  respon- 
sibility rest  chiefly  on  the  head  of  those  who  put 
him  into  office?  When,  in  the  language  of  Jotham, 
the  trees  of  the  field  made  this  request  to  the 
bramble,  "Come  thou  and  reign  over  us!"  were  they 
not  exercising  a  power  and  discharging  a  respon- 
sibility of  their  own?  The  trees  as  a  community 
were  responsible  for  the  existence  and  government 
of  the  bramble  king,  and  they  only  were  to  blame 
for  the  terrible  consequences  of  his  rule. 

It  is  true,  however,  they  had  appealed  to  the 
better  trees  for  their  service  in  this  office.  They 
had  requested  the  Olive,  and  the  Fig-tree  and  the 
103 


104  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


Vine,  to  fill  the  vacancy  and  had  met  with  refusal. 
Any  one  of  them  might  have  filled  the  position  and 
given  far  better  service  than  the  bramble  was  capa- 
ble of  giving.  It  was  their  refusal  which  created 
the  possibility  of  the  Bramble  sitting  on  the  throne 
and  filling  the  office.  When  men  of  character  and 
genius,  who  are  eminently  fitted  by  nature  and 
grace  for  filling  important  public  office  and  render- 
ing valuable  public  service,  refuse  to  obey  the  call 
to  service  because  of  some  inconvenience  arising  to 
themselves,  or  some  sacrifice  demanded,  they  become 
creators  of  the  opportunity  for  the  incompetent,  im- 
moral, and  reckless  among  men  to  get  into  office  and 
render  miserable  and  inefficient  service.  If  the 
Olive,  or  the  Fig,  or  the  Vine  had  accepted  the 
opportunity  for  service  and  had  ruled  according  to 
the  gift  for  sweetness,  or  cheerfulness,  or  fatness, 
there  would  have  been  no  fierce  consuming  fire,  go- 
ing out  from  a  tyrannical,  greedy,  diabolical  throne 
to  consume  the  people.  They  made  this  possible, 
but  all  the  trees  became  responsible. 

Now,  in  view  of  this  let  us  ask,  what  is  meant  by 
the  State  in  the  modern  sense?  The  State  is  not 
the  throne,  nor  is  it  the  government.  It  is  not  this 
set  of  officials,  or  that  particular  parliamentary  in- 
stitution. Speaking  in  a  democratic  sense,  the 
State  is  the  people;  the  commonwealth  which  is 
made  up  of  individuals  possessing  equal  political 
powers.  The  government  is  only  the  agent  of  the 
State,  through  which  it  governs.  It  is  the  Repre- 
sentative Instrument  of  the  people  and  the  means 
through  which  they  determine  how  they  shall  be 


The  Responsibility  of  Democracy  105 


ruled.  There  are  some  autocratic  countries  of  which 
this  could  not  be  said.  But  according  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  government  recognized  by  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race,  it  is  the  people  who  form  the  State. 

During  the  last  century  the  democratic  sentiment 
has  grown.  The  people  have  risen  through  their 
representative  leaders  and  have  claimed  the  right 
to  rule  themselves  and  make  their  own  laws.  They 
have  declared  that  the  government  is  no  longer  the 
master,  but  the  servant  of  the  people ;  no  longer  the 
whip  for  scourging  the  people  but  the  instrument 
for  ruling  and  guiding  the  people  according  to  jus- 
tice, wisdom  and  the  will  of  the  body  politic.  There 
has  been  a  gradual  extension  of  the  franchise,  and 
speaking  generally  the  mass  of  the  people  now  have 
a  share  in  the  formation  of  the  government.  The 
government  is  now  built  on  the  votes  of  the  people 
and  by  such  they  determine  the  power  and  nature 
of  the  government. 

Where  there  has  been  an  increase  of  the  people's 
power  in  this  manner,  there  has  also  been  an  in- 
crease of  the  people's  responsibility.  When  men 
claim  the  right  to  rule  themselves  they  also  claim 
the  right  to  share  in  the  responsibility  of  govern- 
ment. Every  new  extension  of  the  franchise 
means  an  increase  of  the  people's  responsibility,  and 
this  means  under  modern  conditions,  every  man 
with  a  vote  is  responsible  for  the  way  in  which 
he  wields  his  political  power.  In  times  that  are 
gone,  when  the  laws  of  a  country  emanated  from 
the  throne,  and  when  kings,  good,  bad  and  indiffer- 
ent claimed  the  right  to  form  their  own  government, 


io6  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


and  tyrannize  over  their  officials,  and  oppress  the 
people,  then  the  people  could  not  be  responsible  for 
the  wretched  conditions  which  prevailed.  But  this 
has  well-nigh  passed  away.  The  responsibility  of 
government  has  been  lifted  off  the  head  of  the 
Monarch,  and  placed  on  the  heads  of  the  People. 
The  popular  vote  has  made  the  voter  responsible 
for  the  government  of  the  State. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  best  temperance  re- 
formers refuse  to  endorse  schemes  that  make  the 
temperance  people  sharers  in  the  drink  traffic 
through  some  forms  of  government  control.  Under 
the  licensing  system  every  member  of  the  State 
shares  in  the  responsibility  of  that  system.  Under 
systems  that  make  the  drink  traffic  a  government 
monopoly,  such  as  the  Gothenburg  system,  every 
member  of  the  State  shares  in  the  responsibility  for 
the  existence  of  the  wretched  traffic.  No  lover  of 
sobriety,  no  ardent  temperance  advocate,  no  lover  of 
mankind,  no  Christian  citizen  desires  to  have  his 
hands  stained  with  the  blood  of  men,  through  hav- 
ing his  political  responsibility  involved  in  the  ex- 
istence of  the  traffic  in  alcoholic  liquors.  Like  Pi- 
late, he  desires  to  wash  his  hand  clean  of  the  whole 
thing,  and  by  his  political  and  social  power  to  crush 
the  traffic  in  souls.  The  only  temperance  reform 
scheme  that  will  enable  him  to  do  this,  is  Prohibi- 
tion. That  is  one,  out  of  many,  of  its  priceless 
values. 

Not  only  is  democracy  responsible  for  the  bur- 
den, but  also  for  the  character  of  its  government. 
The  bramble  king  represented  a  bramble  govern- 


The  Responsibility  of  Democracy  107 


ment.  If  he  could  not  seduce  the  people  by  his  false 
principles  to  come  and  put  their  trust  in  his  shadow ; 
if  he  could  not  have  absolute  control,  of  whatever 
character,  then  his  despotism  would  go  forth  and  a$ 
a  fire  would  devour  and  destroy.  Is  not  this  char- 
acteristic of  all  bramble  governments?  Built  on 
false  principles  and  operating  according  to  low 
ideals,  what  else  can  there  be  in  the  life  of  the  gov- 
erned but  thorns  and  fetters?  But  the  other  trees 
were  responsible  for  these  thorny  principles  and  gov- 
ernment for  they  placed  the  bramble  there.  So  is 
democracy  responsible  for  the  character  of  its  public 
servants.  If  there  has  been  extended  to  the  people 
the  power  to  determine  the  character  and  principles 
of  the  government,  they  are  responsible  for  that 
character  and  those  principles.  If  the  character  of 
the  representative  leaders  is  good,  so  will  that  of  the 
governing  body  be  good.  If  it  is  not  good,  neither 
will  the  character  of  the  government  be  good.  Then 
let  not  Demos  complain  if  after  putting  bramble 
kings  into  governmental  positions,  fire  comes  out 
therefrom  and  devours  them.  They  receive  their 
office  through  the  choice  of  the  electors.  These  are 
responsible  for  their  character.  An  increase  of 
power  is  always  accompanied  by  an  increase  of  re- 
sponsibility. 

It  is  always  essential  that  the  character  life  of 
a  ruling  power  be  emphasized.  Morality  is  of 
supreme  importance  and  of  absolute  necessity  to  a 
democracy.  If  a  despot  is  immoral  it  is  the  immo- 
rality of  one  man;  if  a  democracy  is  immoral,  it  is 
the  immorality  of  thousands  of  men.   Good  govern- 


io8  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


ment  can  only  rest  on  moral  foundations.  When 
the  character  of  the  people  is  good  and  free  from 
corruption,  there  is  the  possibility  of  the  character 
of  government  being  good;  for  according  to  the 
principles  and  ideals  of  the  people,  so  will  the 
character  of  the  government  be  determined.  Mo- 
rality must  be  developed  in  a  democracy  to  the  ut- 
most, otherwise  political  power  .will  be  abused  and 
tend  to  increase  of  corruption.  Sound  govern- 
ment rests  not  only  on  the  will  of  the  people,  but 
also  on  the  character  of  the  people.  The  Sover- 
eignty of  the  People  must  be  sustained  by  the  sov- 
ereignty of  character. 

When  Sulla,  the  great  Roman  legislator,  deter- 
mined to  restore  the  ancient  Roman  Constitution  to 
the  Senate  and  the  Nobility,  it  was  found  that  the 
Aristocracy  was  so  corrupt  and  selfish,  and  used 
the  power  granted  for  their  own  aggrandizement, 
that  it  became  a  failure.  Then  the  people  secured 
the  reins  of  power,  but  they,  too,  were  corrupt  and 
inefficient  and  it  became  a  failure  in  their  hands. 
As  neither  class  was  fit  to  rule  they  were  obliged  to 
submit  to  the  domination  of  a  single  man.  One 
man  with  the  power  of  efficiency  and  that  of  charac- 
ter was  better  than  thousands  without  that  power. 
Virtue  has  the  power  to  make  democracies  strong; 
it  welds  the  people  together;  permeates  their  soul; 
inspires  their  loftiest  ideals  and  creates  their  strong- 
est principles.  It  is  this  that  enables  democracy  to 
perpetuate  itself;  and  without  it,  no  popular  gov- 
ernment can  stand.  With  the  extension  of  political 
power,  with  the  spreading  sense  of  political  re- 


The  Responsibility  of  Democracy  109 


sponsibility,  there  must  also  be  the  deepening  of  the 
sense  of  virtue  in  the  heart  and  conscience  of  the  peo- 
ple. There  is  no  salt  in  the  body  politic  so  refresh- 
ening and  preserving  as  the  salt  of  religion  and  the 
character  it  produces.  When  the  Roman  Empire 
began  to  decline,  its  fate  was  postponed  through 
the  virtue  that  was  embodied  in  the  lives  and  char- 
acters of  its  Emperors.  The  historian  tells  us,  "they 
were  all  worthy  commanders  and  many  of  them 
shone  with  brilliancy  of  character  as  well  as  that 
of  genius  and  it  was  this  element  of  virtue  in  them 
which  prevented  for  a  time  the  fall  of  the  Empire. 
Morality  is  essential  to  all  forms  of  government, 
but  it  is  particularly  necessary  for  democracy,  to 
keep  the  heart  and  soul  of  the  people  pure  and  to 
prevent  the  operation  of  the  leaven  of  evil  in  politi- 
cal and  social  life,  which  will  always  work  if  the 
leaven  of  goodness  is  absent. 

Sometimes  cleverness  takes  the  place  of  righteous- 
ness. A  clever  man  on  the  side  of  corruption  can 
do  more  harm  than  a  score  of  ignorant  men  on  the 
same  side.  We  need  clever  men,  but  we  must  have 
good  men.  We  need  in  democracy  men  of  genius 
to  guide  us  but  we  must  have  men  of  sound  moral 
principle  to  inspire  us.  About  the  year  483  B.  C, 
there  were  two  leaders  in  the  city  of  Athens  who 
presented  a  striking  contrast  to  each  other.  It 
was  a  contrast  somewhat  of  ability,  but  more  partic- 
ularly of  character.  Aristides  was  the  leader  of  the 
conservative  party;  Themistocles  of  the  democrati- 
cal  party:  Themistocles  surpassed  the  former  in 
cleverness,  but  not  in  character.   Aristides  shone  in 


I IO 


The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


character  chiefly,  but  had  some  ability,  though  it 
was  inferior  to  that  of  the  other.  Aristides,  be- 
cause of  his  resplendent  character  was  called  "the 
Just."  After  years  of  rivalry  both  men  appealed  to 
the  ostracism,  with  the  result  that  Aristides  was 
banished.  One  unlettered  countryman  gave  his  vote 
against  the  good  man  in  favor  of  the  clever  man,  be- 
cause he  was  tired  of  hearing  him  called  the  "Just." 
This  ancient  incident  shows  two  things:  it  exhibits 
the  power  and  responsibility  concomitant  with  de- 
mocracy, and  also  shows  how  with  such  power, 
cleverness  may  be  emphasized  before  righteousness. 
It  is  a  danger  always  with  popular  power.  The 
two  must  go  together  for  the  making  of  sound 
government. 

Should  there  not  also  be  caution  exercised  in  the 
treatment  of  great  and  valuable  public  men?  Too 
often  Demos  imagines  he  can  ostracize  and 
scornfully  deal  with  such.  It  is  immaterial  what 
may  be  the  different  shades  of  political  and  other 
opinion,  men  who  serve  the  public  wisely,  graciously 
and  well,  should  command  the  respect  of  democracy. 
We  cannot  afford  to  despise  and  throw  to  the  ash- 
heap  our  great  men,  just  because  of  a  change  of  po- 
litical circumstance  or  theory.  It  is  an  ominous 
sign  when  Demos  does  that.  It  indicates  a  fick- 
leness in  society  which  may  hinder  its  own  perpetu- 
ation along  the  lines  of  healthy  life.  It  shows  ir- 
ritating and  contentious  sores  at  work  in  the  body, 
and  above  all,  rank  expression  of  the  spirit  of  in- 
gratitude. Let  Demos  take  his  hat  off  to  the 
great  men  who  serve  and  thereby  merit  respect  and 


The  Responsibility  of  Democracy  m 


kindly  treatment.  There  are  too  many  Brutus' 
stabbing  our  great  Caesars.  Yet,  why  should  there 
be  complaint?  There  is  a  vicarious  principle  run- 
ning through  the  solidarity  of  society,  and  great 
men,  the  benefactors  of  our  race,  have  been  called 
on  to  suffer  under  its  patronage.  If  one  would 
serve  he  must  also  be  prepared  to  suffer.  Democ- 
racy is  no  exception  to  the  rule,  but  it  is  an  evil 
sign  nevertheless.  It  manifests  a  spirit  of  instabil- 
ity and  an  inability  to  appreciate  and  measure  public 
worth.  But  special  messengers  of  Providence  have 
ofttimes  become 

"Sport  of  the  changeful  multitude, 
Nor  calmly  heard  nor  understood, 
Their  song  has  seemed  a  trick  of  art, 
Their  warnings  but  the  actor's  part. 
With  bonds  and  scorn  and  evil  will, 
The  world  requites  its  prophets  still." 

Luther  complained  at  one  time  of  the  bad  treat- 
ment the  public  sometimes  affords  preachers.  "The 
defects  of  a  preacher,"  he  says,  "are  soon  spied.  Let 
a  preacher  be  endowed  with  ten  virtues,  and  have 
but  one  fault,  that  one  fault  will  eclipse  and  darken 
all  his  virtues  and  gifts,  so  evil  is  the  world  in 
these  times."  Then  he  says  further  on:  "A 
preacher  should  be  ready  to  stake  body  and  life, 
goods,  and  glory  on  the  truth  he  teaches;  and  he 
must  suffer  himself  to  be  vexed  and  criticised  by 
everybody."  This  same  applies  to  all  public  men. 
Though  clever  and  good,  efficient  and  wise,  they  do 


H2  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


not  always  please  the  public.  Like  Miltiades  of  old, 
they  are  applauded  one  day  and  denounced  the  next. 
They  may  be  the  saviours  of  their  country,  but  they 
are  liable  to  the  transition  of  thought,  the  instability 
of  judgments  and  the  shiftiness  of  favors,  which 
may  cause  clouds  of  darkness  to  hover  over  their 
pathway  eventually.  Every  public  man  should  learn 
the  value  of  duty  and  the  futility  of  public  ap- 
plause, and  the  ineffectiveness  of  trying  to  please  the 
public.  Sydney  Smith  once  saw  a  little  girl  stoop 
down  and  stroke  the  shell  of  a  turtle.  "Why  are 
you  doing  that,  Belle?"  he  asked.  "To  please  the 
turtle,"  she  replied.  "My  child,  you  might  as  well 
stroke  the  dome  of  St.  Paul's  to  please  the  dean 
and  chapter."  There  are  times  when  democracy  is 
like  the  shell  of  the  turtle  and  to  try  to  please  it 
would  be  as  little  effective  as  stroking  that  shell. 
The  moral  is:  we  must  enter  public  service  not  to 
please,  but  from  a  conviction  of  duty  and  a  sense 
of  fitness.  Democracy  often  needs  the  men  it  some- 
times spurns. 

Democracy  is  also  responsible  for  the  en- 
forcement of  its  own  laws.  It  is  said  of  Pisis- 
tratus,  the  tyrant  of  Athens,  when  he  came  into 
power,  "he  not  only  enforced  strict  obedience  to  the 
laws,  but  himself  set  the  example  of  submitting  to 
them."  He  was  obedient  to  his  own  laws,  and  en- 
forced them.  Democracy  must  be  obedient  to  its 
own  laws  and  realize  its  responsibility  for  their 
enforcement.  Lawlessness  among  a  people  possess- 
ing the  reins  of  power,  and  who  is  responsible  for 
the  burden  and  character  of  its  government,  is  as 


The  Responsibility  of  Democracy  113 


great  a  crime,  as  the  lawlessness  of  a  Monarch 
against  which  it  protests.  Men  who  are  sent  to 
the  legislatures  for  the  purpose  of  making  our  laws, 
must  be  obedient  unto  the  laws  they  make,  and  not 
set  an  example  to  others  by  transgressing  those 
laws.  The  man  who  acts  lawlessly  sets  himself 
above  the  law  and  thereby  denies  to  himself  the 
right  of  responsibility  for  the  law  he  helps  to  create. 
For  democracy  to  foment  the  spirit  of  disobedience 
is  to  contradict  its  own  right  of  government.  There 
are  leaders  among  us  who  are  daring  enough  to  en- 
force our  laws,  but  they  must  be  upheld  by  public 
sentiment  and  power.  We  must  not  desert  our 
leaders  in  the  crucial  hour.  Law  is  not  powerful 
in  itself.  It  cannot  enforce  itself.  But  when  it  is 
impelled  and  enforced  by  personality,  it  becomes 
powerful.  It  is  not  the  weakness  of  the  law  of 
which  we  should  speak,  but  the  weakness  of  men 
in  relation  to  its  enforcement. 

Once  again,  Democracy  is  responsible  for  the 
principles  and  ideals  of  the  community.  Why?  Be- 
cause in  it,  all  share  in  the  power  and  responsibility 
of  the  government.  The  leaders  have  their  positions 
of  power  through  the  choice  of  the  people.  They 
help  to  mould  the  principles  and  ideals  of  democ- 
racy. It  is  essential  therefore  in  choosing  the 
leaders,  that  emphasis  be  placed  on  their  principles 
and  ideals,  for  these  re-act  on  the  very  power  that 
has  chosen  them. 

Now  principle  is  the  thing  of  supreme  impor- 
tance. Nations  may  rise  and  fall,  and  empires  may 
sink  into  the  dust;  thrones  may  be  rocked  in  the 


U4 


The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


throes  of  revolution,  and  governments  may  be  over- 
turned by  an  infuriated  democracy;  men  may  be 
here  to-day  and  gone  to-morrow,  and  the  institutions 
they  have  reared  may  fall  and  rest  beneath  the  dust 
of  ages,  but  principles  are  eternal.  Not  only  are 
they  persistently  eternal  but  they  possess  the  guiding 
power  of  life.  Men  are  guided  in  all  their  relations 
by  the  principles  they  adopt  and  the  ideals  they  set 
before  them.  If  they  are  powerful  men,  their  prin- 
ciples are  manifested  also  for  the  guidance  of  the 
masses.  Hence  the  importance  of  democracy  seeking 
to  flourish  on  true  principles  of  righteousness,  and  to 
be  allured  onward  to  the  goal  of  progress  by  ideals 
that  are  high  and  noble. 

In  selecting  the  bramble  king,  all  the  trees  of 
the  field  exhibited  a  choice  of  false  principles  and 
low  ideals.  Such  principles  are  thorny  and  are  ca- 
pable of  goring  the  body  politic.  When  men  use 
their  political  power  by  choosing  their  representa- 
tives and  leaders,  they  choose  not  merely  for  them- 
selves but  for  others.  They  choose  for  the  general 
democracy.  A  man's  choices  do  not  end  with  him- 
self. In  some  mysterious  and  subtle  way  they  act 
and  re-act  upon  those  around.  If  a  father  allows  his 
life  to  be  governed  by  that  which  is  low,  does  not 
that  very  choice  affect  his  family?  It  robs  them 
of  dignity,  of  pure  and  worthy  example,  and  it 
would  be  no  mystery  whatever  if  they  should  make 
similar  choices  in  time  to  come.  So,  the  evil  thing 
will  go  on  affecting  other  self,  immediate  and  re- 
mote. If  society  is  worth  anything,  it  is  worthy  of 
our  highest  choices,  else  it  is  evident  we  have  low 


The  Responsibility  of  Democracy  115 


ideals  for  it.  The  same  thing  applies  to  a  man's 
political  power  and  relations.  In  these  he  chooses 
for  the  general  welfare  or  otherwise,  as  well  as 
his  own.  In  a  personal  sense  it  is  evident,  men  can- 
not get  the  best  out  of  life  by  making  such  choices. 
There  are  no  great  treasures  of  being  for  the  man  of 
false  principles  and  low  ideals.  Life  affords  the 
greatest  pleasures,  the  finest  happiness,  the  most 
valuable  purposes  to  those  who  have  high  ideals  of 
its  meaning.  He  who  chooses  these  will  rise  in  the 
scale  of  character,  but  he  who  chooses  low  ideals  of 
self  and  society,  of  men  and  things,  will  descend 
very  rapidly  in  the  scale  of  character.  Society 
rises  and  falls  by  the  same  standard.  If  a  com- 
munity is  governed  by  sound  moral  principles  and  by 
the  choice  of  high  ideals,  if  it  is  free  from  thorny 
politics  and  base  social  forces,  its  character  will  rise, 
its  welfare  will  increase.  Otherwise  this  will  de- 
cline. 

Principle  we  say  is  eternal,  but  too  many  forget- 
ting this,  subject  themselves  to  the  mere  instability 
of  feeling;  on  this  basis  they  make  their  choices. 
When  Xerxes'  army  reached  the  Hellespont,  he 
mounted  a  marble  throne  and  took  a  survey  of  the 
whole.  His  heart  at  first  swelled  within  him  at  the 
sight  of  such  a  vast  assemblage  of  human  beings, 
but  his  feelings  of  pride  and  pleasure  soon  gave  way 
to  sadness,  and  he  burst  into  tears  at  the  reflection 
that  in  a  hundred  years'  time  not  one  of  them  would 
be  alive.  Here  we  see  the  ebb  and  flow,  the  rise 
and  fall  of  mere  feeling.  First  it  was  pride  and 
pleasure,  then  sadness.   The  men  would  pass  away, 


Ii6  The  Democracy  of  the  Trees 


but  he  forgot  that  principles  were  eternal.  Right- 
eousness, love,  liberty,  wisdom;  these  stand  for 
eternal  principles,  and  though  the  mass  of  men  are 
swayed  in  their  choices  and  use  of  power  by  pass- 
ing emotions,  yet  these  live  on  when  men  have 
passed  away.  It  is  better  to  base  our  moral  and 
political  and  social  choices  on  that  which  is  eternal 
rather  than  on  that  which  is  ephemeral.  What  we 
need  to-day  in  all  grades  of  society  and  in  all  depart- 
ments of  life,  in  politics,  in  religion  and  in  com- 
merce, is  not  more  feeling  but  more  conviction  of 
the  right.  We  do  not  want  more  emotion,  but 
greater  emphasis  on  moral  principles  and  ideals. 
When  democracy  realizes  its  moral  responsibilities, 
not  only  that  the  burden  but  also  the  character  of 
its  government  is  upon  its  shoulders,  men  of  strong 
character  will  be  its  leaders,  and  high  purposes  will 
be  instinctive  in  the  body  politic,  and  pure  emotions 
will  flow  through  its  veins. 


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